Iiiiisiiiiil 


LIBRARY 

OF  THK 

University  of  California. 

GIFT   Ot^ 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  i8g4. 
^Accessions  No .  SJo ST /  -      Class  No . 


^ 


J.C.IVIS0N<SrC^2 

IJOOKStLLliKS 

AUBURN  N.V 


\ 


7hl^'^ 


\ 


LOWELL    LECTURES 


ON    THE 


EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


LECTURES 


ON    THE 


EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY, 


BEFORE 


THE  LOWELll'INSTITUTE, 


JANUARY,    1844. 


BY 


MARK    HOPKINS,    D.  D 

PRESIDENT    OF    WILLIAMS    COLLEGE. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED    BY    T.    R.    MARVIN 

1846. 


Sl9*J/ 

Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1846, 

By  John  Amory  Lowell, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


BT//0/ 


TO 


JOHN  AMORY  LOWELL,  ESQ. 

Sir, 

That  these  Lectures  were  written  is  owing 

to  you.  Having  had  no  personal  acquaintance  with  you, 
nothing  could  have  been  more  unexpected  than  your  in- 
vitation to  lecture  before  the  Lowell  Institute  ;  and  at 
that  time  nothing  could  have  been  farther  from  my 
thoughts  than  the  preparation  of  a  volume  on  the  Evi- 
dences of  Christianity.  To  you,  also,  it  is  owing  that 
the  Lectures  are  published.  For  these  reasons  it  would 
seem  fit  that  they  should  be  inscribed  to  you ;  but  my 
chief  reason  for  wishing  this,  is  the  opportunity  it  gives 
me  to  express  the  sense  I  entertain,  not  only  of  the  lib- 
eral spirit  which  prompted  the  appointment,  but  of  the 
candor  and  kindness  by  which  your  whole  course  re- 
specting them  has  been  characterized. 

With  sincere  sentiments  of  respect  and  esteem, 

I  am  yours, 

MARK   HOPKINS. 
Williams  College,  April,  184G. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  Lectures  are  published  as  they  were 
delivered.  Perhaps  nothing  would  be  gained  on  the 
whole,  by  recasting  them ;  but  they  must  be  expected  to 
have  the  defects  incident  to  compositions  prepared  under 
the  pressure  of  other  duties,  and  required  to  be  com- 
pleted within  a  limited  time. 

When  I  entered  upon  the  subject,  1  supposed  it  had 
been  exhausted ;  but,  on  looking  at  it  more  nearly,  I  was 
led  to  see  that  Christianity  has  such  relations  to  nature 
and  to  man,  that  the  evidence  resulting  from  a  compari- 
son of  it  with  them  may  be  almost  said  to  be  exhaustless. 
To  the  evidence  from  this  source  I  have  given  greater 
prominence  than  is  common,  both  because  it  has  been 
comparatively  neglected,  and  because  I  judged  it  better 
adapted  than  the  historical  proof  to  interest  a  promiscu- 
ous audience.  It  was  with  reference  to  both  these  points, 
that,  in  the  arrangement  and  grouping  of  these  Lectures, 
I  have  departed  from  the  ordinary  course  ;  and  if  they 
shall  be  found  in  any  degree  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
present  state  of  the  public  mind,  I  think  it  will  be  from 
the  prominence  given  to  the  Internal  Evidence,  while,  at 
the  same  time,  the  chief  topics  of  argument  are  presented 
within  a  moderate  space. 


8  PREFACE. 

The  method  of  proof  of  which  I  have  just  spoken  has 
one  disadvantage  which  I  found  embarrassing.  If  Chris- 
tianity is  compared  with  nature  or  with  man,  it  must  be 
assumed  that  it  is  some  specific  thing  ;  and  hence  there 
will  be  danger,  either  of  being  so  general  and  indefinite 
as  to  be  without  interest,  or  of  getting  upon  controversial 
ground.  Each  of  these  extremes  it  was  my  wish  to 
avoid.  That  I  succeeded  in  doing  this  perfectly,  I  cannot 
suppose.  Probably  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  one  to 
do  so  in  the  judgment  of  all.  My  wish  was  to  present 
the  argument.  This  I  could  not  do  without  indicating 
my  sentiments  on  some  of  the  leading  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity up  to  a  certain  point ;  and  if  any  think  that  I  went 
too  far,  I  can  only  say  that  it  was  difficult  to  know 
where  to  stop,  and  that,  if  I  had  given  the  argument  pre- 
cisely as  it  lay  in  my  own  mind,  I  should  have  gone 
much  farther.  It  is  from  the  adaptation  of  Christianity  as 
providing  an  atonement,  and  consequently  a  divine  Re- 
deemer, to  the  condition  and  wants  of  man,  that  the 
chief  force  of  such  works  as  that  of  Erskine,  and  "The 
Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation,". is  derived;  and  I 
should  be  unwilling  to  have  it  supposed  that  I  presented 
any  thing  which  I  regarded  as  a  complete  system  of  the 
Evidences  of  Christianity,  from  which  that  argument  was 
excluded. 

But  if,  in  some  of  its  aspects,  the  evidence  for  Chris- 
tianity may  be  said  to  be  exhaustless,  it  may  also  be  said 
that  several  of  the  leading  topics  of  argument  have  prob- 
ably been  presented  as  ably  as  they  ever  will  be.  Those 
topics  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  present,  and  in  doing  so 


PREFACE.  9 

I  had  no  wish  to  sacrifice  force  to  originahty,  and  did 
not  hesitate  to  avail  myself  freely  of  such  labors  of  others 
as  were  within  my  reach.  If  I  had  had  time  to  do  this 
more  fully,  no  doubt  the  Lectures  would  hav^e  been  im- 
proved. 

For  much  recurrence  to  oriarinal  authorities  in  the  his- 

O 

torical  part,  I  had  not  time.  The  quotations  in  that  part 
are  generally  taken  from  Paley  or  Home,  or  from  some 
source  equally  common.  Those  quotations,  however,  are 
of  unquestioned  authority ;  they  are  to  the  point,  and 
perhaps  nothing  could  have  more  usefully  occupied  the 
same  space. 

The  importance  of  the  object  intended  to  be  accom- 
plished by  the  founder  of  the  Lowell  Institute,  in  this 
course  of  Lectures,  cannot  be  over-estimated.  Let  there  be 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  generally  a  settled  and  rational 
conviction  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  such  as  a  fair  pres- 
entation of  the  evidence  could  not  fail  to  produce,  and 
there  will  be  the  best  and  the  only  true  foundation  laid 
for  a  rational  piety,  and  for  the  practice  of  every  social 
and  civil  virtue.  That  these  Lectures  were  useful,  to  some 
extent,  when  they  were  delivered,  m  producing  such  a 
conviction,  I  had  the  great  satisfaction  of  knowing ;  and 
I  now  commit  them  to  the  blessing  of  God,  with  the  hope, 
though  there  are  so  many  and  so  able  treatises  on  this 
subject  already  before  the  public,  that  they  will  have  a 
degree  of  usefulness  that  will  justify  their  publication. 

Williams  College,  April,  1846. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE    I. 

PAGE 

Object  of  the  Course,  —  Responsibility  of  Men  for  their  Opinions. 
—  Christianity  capable  of  certain  Proof.  —  This  shown  from  a 
Comparison  of  matliematical  and  moral  Evidence,  and  from  an 
Analysis  of  the  Argument  of  Hume 13 


LECTURE    II. 

Preliminary  Observations.  —  Probability  of  a  Revelation  ;  first,  from 
the  Nature  of  tlie  Case ;  secondly,  from  Facts.  —  Probability  of 
Miracles,  aside  from  their  Effect  in  sustaining  any  particular 
Revelation.  —  Connection  between  the  Miracle  and  tlie  Doctrine. 
—  The  Christian  Religion,  or  none 41 


LECTURE    III. 

Internal  and  external  Evidence.  —  Vagueness  of  the  Division  be- 
tween them.  —  Reasons  for  considering  the  internal  Evidences 
first.  —  The  Argument  from  Analogy 72 

LECTURE    IV. 

Coincidence  of  Christianity  with  Natural  Religion.  —  Its  Adaptation 
to  the  Conscience  as  a  perceiving  Power.  —  Peculiar  Difficulties 
in  the  Way  of  establishing  and  maintaining  a  perfect  Standard. 
—  Christian  Morality  inseparable  from  the  Christian  Religion..     104 

LECTURE    V. 

Adaptation  of  Christianity  to  the  Conscience,  considered  as  a 
Power  capable  of  Improvement.  —  Its  Adaptation  to  the  Intel- 
lect, the  Affections,  the  Imagination,  and  tlie  Will 135 


12  CONTENTS. 

LECTURE    VI. 

PAGE. 

Christianity  as  a  restraining  Power.  —  The  experimental  Evidence 
of  Christianity.  —  Its  Fitness  and  Tendency  to  become  univer- 
sal. —  It  has  always  been  in  the  World 167 

LECTURE    VII. 

Christianity  could  not  have  been  originated  by  Man 197 

LECTURE    VIII. 

The  Condition,  Character,  and  Claims  of  Christ. 227 

LECTURE    IX. 

The  external  Evidence.  —  General  Grounds  on  which  this  is  to  be 
put.  —  Authenticity  and  Integrity  of  the  Writings  of  the  New 
Testament 258 

LECTURE    X. 

Credibility  of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament 290 

LECTURE    XI. 

Prophecy.  —  Nature  of  this  Evidence.  —  The  general  Object  of 
Prophecy.  —  The  Fulfilment  of  Prophecy 322 

LECTURE    XII. 

Objections.  —  The  Propagation  of  Christianity. —  Its  Effects  and 
Tendencies.  —  Summary  and  Conclusion 353 


EVIDENCES   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 


LECTURE  I. 


OBJECT  OF  THE  COURSE.  —  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  MEN  FOR 
THEIR  OPINIONS.  —  CHRISTIANITY  CAPABLE  OF  CERTAIN 
PROOF.  — THIS  SHOWN  FROM  A  COMPARISON  OF  MATHE- 
MATICAL AND  MORAL  EVIDENCE,  AND  FROM  AN  ANALYSIS 
OF   THE   ARGUMENT   OF   HUME. 

In  entering  upon  this  course  of  lectures,  there  is 
one  impression  against  which  I  wish  to  guard  at  the 
outset.  It  is,  that  I  come  here  to  defend  Christianity, 
as  if  its  truth  were  a  matter  of  doubt.  Not  so.  I 
come,  not  to  dispute,  but  to  exhibit  truth ;  to  do  my 
part  in  a  great  work,  which  must  be  done  for  every 
generation,  by  showing  them,  so  that  they  shall  see 
for  themselves,  the  grounds  on  which  their  belief  in 
the  Christian  religion  rests.  I  come  to  stand  at  the 
door  of  the  temple  of  Truth,  and  ask  you  to  go  in  with 
me,  and  see  for  yourselves  the  foundation  and  the 
shafts  of  those  pillars  upon  which  its  dome  is  reared. 
I  ask  you,  in  the  words  of  one  of  old,  to  walk  with  me 
about  our  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her,  to  tell  the 
towers  thereof,  to  mark  well  her  bulwarks,  to  consider 
her  palaces,  that  ye  may  tell  it  to  the  generation 
following.* 

*  Psalm  xlviii.  12,  13. 


14  LECTURE    I. 

In  doing  this,  I  shall  hope  to  be  useful  to  three 
classes  of  persons. 

To  the  first  belong  those  who  have  received  Chris- 
tianity by  acquiescence ;  who  have,  perhaps,  never 
questioned  its  truth,  but  who  have  never  examined 
its  evidence.  This  class  is  large,  —  it  is  to  be  feared 
increasingly  so,  —  and  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that 
the  position  of  mind  in  which  they  are  placed,  and 
its  consequences,  are  sufficiently  regarded. 

The  claims  of  the  Christian  religion  present  them- 
selves to  those  who  enter  upon  life  in  a  Christian 
country,  in  an  attitude  entirely  different  from  that  in 
which  they  were  presented  at  their  first  announce- 
ment, when  they  made  such  rapid  progress,  and  when 
their  dominion  over  the  mind  of  man  was  so  efficient.* 
Then,  no  man  was  born  a  Christian.  If  he  became 
one,  it  was  in  opposition  to  the  prejudices  of  educa- 
tion, to  ties  of  kindred,  to  motives  of  interest,  and 
often  at  the  sacrifice  of  reputation  and  of  life.  This 
no  man  would  do  except  on  the  ground  of  the  strongest 
reasons,  perceived  and  assented  to  by  his  own  mind. 
Christianity  was  an  aggressive  and  an  uncompromising 
religion.  It  attacked  every  other  form  of  religion, 
whether  Jewish  or  pagan,  and  sought  to  destroy  it. 
It  "  turned  the  world  upside  down  "  wherever  it  came  ; 
and  the  first  question  which  any  man  would  natural- 
ly ask  was,  "What  are  its  claims?  What  are  the 
reasons  why  I  should  receive  it  ?  "  And  these  claims 
and  reasons  would  be  examined  with  all  the  attention 
that  could  be  produced  by  the  stimulus  of  novelty,  and 
by  the  deepest  personal  interest. 

*  See  Whately's  Logic,  Appendix,  p.  325. 


LECTURE  I.  15 

Now,  however,  all  this  is  changed.  Men  arc  born 
nominally  Christians.  The  truth  of  the  religion  is 
taken  for  granted ;  nothing  leads  them  to  question  it, 
nothing  to  examine  it.  In  this  position  the  mind  may 
open  itself  to  the  reception  of  the  religion  from  a  per- 
ception of  its  intrinsic  excellence,  and  its  adaptation 
to  the  deep  wants  of  man  ;  but  the  probability  is  that 
doubts  will  arise.  The  occasions  of  these  are  abundant 
on  every  hand ;  the  strange  state  in  which  the  world 
is ;  the  number  of  sects ;  the  conduct  of  Christians  ; 
a  companion  that  ridicules  religion ;  an  infidel  book. 
One  objection  or  doubt  makes  way  for  another.  The 
objections  come  first,  and,  ere  the  individual  is  aware, 
his  respect  for  religion,  and  his  confidence  in  it,  are 
undermined.  Especially  will  this  be  so  if  a  young 
man  travels  much,  and  sees  different  forms  of  religion. 
He  will  see  the  Hindoo  bowing  before  his  idol,  the 
Turk  praying  towards  Mecca,  the  Papist  kneeling  be- 
fore his  saint,  and  the  Protestant  attending  his  church ; 
and,  as  each  seems  equally  sincere,  and  equally  certain 
he  is  right,  he  will  acquire,  insensibly  perhaps,  a  gen- 
eral impression  that  all  religions  are  equally  true,  or, 
which  is  much  the  same  thing,  that  they  are  equally 
false,  and  any  exclusive  attachment  to  the  Christian 
religion  will  be  regarded  as  bigotry.  The  religion 
itself  will  come  to  be  disliked  as  a  restraint,  and  de- 
spised as  a  form.  It  is  chiefly  from  this  class  that  the 
ranks  of  fanaticism,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  infidelity, 
on  the  other,  are  filled  ;  and  it  will  often  depend  on 
constitutional  temperament,  or  accidental  temptation, 
whether  such  a  one  shall  become  a  fanatic  or  an 
infidel. 

At   this  point,   there   is   doubtless  a  fault  both  in 


IG  LECTURE   I. 

Christian  parents  and  in  Christian  ministers.  Where 
there  is  a  proper  course  of  training,  this  class  can 
never  become  numerous;  but  it  is  numerous  in  all  our 
congregations  now.  Needless  doubts  are  not  to  be 
awakened,  but  it  is  no  honor  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion to  receive  it  by  prescription.  It  is  no  fault  to 
have  those  questionings,  that  desire  for  insight,  —  call 
them  doubts  if  jou  will,  —  which  always  spring  up 
in  strong  minds,  and  which  will  not  be  quieted  till 
the  ground  and  evidence  of  those  things  which  they 
receive  are  distinctly  seen.  Are  there  such  among 
my  hearers  ?  Them  I  hope  to  benefit.  I  hope  to  do 
for  them  what  Luke  did  for  the  most  excellent  The- 
ophilus  —  to  show  thenl  the  "  certainty  "  of  those  things 
in  which  they  have  been  instructed ;  to  refer  them,  as 
he  does  again  the  same  person  in  the  Acts,  to  those 
"infallible  proofs"  on  which  the  religion  rests. 

To  the  second  class  whom  I  hope  to  benefit  belong 
those  who  have  gradually  passed  from  the  preceding 
class  into  doubt  and  infidelity.  For  such,  I  think, 
there  is  hope.  They  are  not  unwilling  to  see  evi- 
dence. Their  position  has  led  them  to  look  at 
objections  first,  and  they  have,  perhaps,  never  had 
time  or  opportunity  to  look  at  the  embodied  evidence 
for  Christianity.  They  have  fallen  into  infidelity  from 
association,  from  vanity,  from  fashion  ;  they  have  not 
found  in  it  the  satisfaction  they  expected,  and  they 
are  willing  to  review  the  ground,  or  rather  to  look 
candidly,  for  the  first  time,  at  the  evidences  for  this 
religion. 

Besides  this  class  of  infidels,  there  are,  however, 
two  others  whom  I  have  very  little  hope  of  benefiting. 
One  is  of  those  who  are  made  so  by  their  passions, 


LECTURE   I.  17 

and  are  under  the  control  of  appetite,  or  ambition,  or 
avarice,  or  revenjjc.  As  these  were  not  made  infidels 
by  argument,  argiunent  will  not  be  likely  to  reclaim 
them.  "  They  never  think  of  religion  but  witli  a 
feeling  of  enmity,  and  never  speak  of  it  but  in  the 
language  of  sneer  or  abuse."  Another  class  is  of 
those  who  have  been  well  characterized  as  "  a  cold, 
speculative,  subtle  set  of  skeptics,  who  attack  first 
principles  and  confound  their  readers  or  hearers  with 
paradoxes."  Apparently  influenced  by  vanity,  they 
adopt  principles  which  would  render  all  argument 
impossible  or  nugatory,  and  which  would  lead  to  fun- 
damental and  universal  skepticism.  This  class  seems 
not  to  be  as  numerous  or  as  dangerous  at  present  as  at 
some  former  times.* 

The  third  class  whom  I  hope  to  benefit  consists  of 
Christians  themselves.  It  is  one  of  the  conditions 
of  Christian  character  and  efficiency,  that,  on  some 
ground,  there  should  be  such  a  conviction  of  the  truth 
of  Christianity  as  to  form  a  basis  of  action  and  of 
self-sacrifice,  which,  if  it  should  be  required,  would  be 
carried  even  to  martyrdom.  The  grounds  of  such  a 
conviction  cannot  be  too  well  examined.  There  is  no 
man,  who  finds  himself  called  to  act  upon  any  con- 
viction, who  does  not  feel  his  self-respect  increased, 
and  his  peace  of  mind  enhanced,  and  his  strength  for 
action  augmented,  when  he  has  a  clear  perception  ot 
the  ground  of  the  conviction  upon  which  he  acts. 
And  even  though  he  may  once  have  seen  the  Christian 
evidences  in  all  their  force,  and  been  astonished  at  the 
mass  of  proof,  and  have  been  perfectly  convinced,  yet, 

*  Alexander's  Evidences,  p,  9. 


18  LECTURE  I. 

after  a  time,  these  impressions  fade  away,  and  it  is 
good  for  him  to  have  them  renewed.  It  is  as  when 
one  has  looked  at  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  and  stood  upon 
the  tower,  and  gone  round  upon  Table  rock,  and 
been  rowed  in  the  little  boat  up  towards  the  great  fall, 
and  had  his  mind  filled  with  the  scene,  but  has  again 
been  occupied  in  the  business  of  life  till  the  impres- 
sion has  become  indistinct  on  his  mind.  He  would 
then  gladly  return,  and  have  it  renewed  and  deepened. 
This  feeling  of  certainty  seems  to  have  been  one  of 
the  elements  of  the  vigorous  piety  of  ancient  times. 
They  believed ;  therefore  they  spoke.  They  knew 
whom  they  believed ;  therefore  they  were  ready  to 
be  offered.  They  spoke  of  "  certainty,"  of  "  infallible 
proofs,"  of  being  "  eye-witnesses,"  of  the  "  more  sure 
word  of  prophecy."  Their  tread  was  not  that  of  men 
who  were  feeling  their  way  in  the  twilight  of  doubtful 
evidence,  but  that  of  men  who  saw  every  thing  in  the 
light  of  clear  and  perfect  vision.  I  would  not,  indeed, 
limit  the  amount  of  knowledge  and  conviction  with 
which  piety  may  exist.  If  it  can  spring  up  in  the 
twilight,  and  grow  where  doubts  overshadow  it,  and 
where  it  never  feels  the  direct  rays  of  truth,  we  ought 
to  rejoice ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  we  ought  to  know 
that  the  growth  will  be  feeble,  and  that  the  plant  must 
be  despoiled  of  the  beauty  and  fragrance  which  it  will 
have  when  it  grows  as  in  the  light  of  the  open  dav. 
To  produce  this  feeling  of  certainty  in  one  already  a 
Christian,  was  the  avowed  object  for  which  the  Gos- 
pel of  Luke  was  written ;  and  it  is  this  feehng,  con- 
taining the  elements  both  of  peace  and  of  strength, 
that  I  hope  to  produce  and  to  deepen  in  the  minds 
of  Christians. 


LECTURE    I.  19 

But  if  I  am  to  be  useful  to  either  of  these  classes,  it 
must  be  with  their  own  cooperation.  The  principle 
involved  in  this  assertion,  in  reference  to  all  moral 
truth,  and,  indeed,  to  all  truth  the  acquisition  of  which 
requires  attention,  is  as  obvious  to  philosophy  and 
common  sense  as  it  is  plainly  announced  in  the  Bible. 
Nothing  is  more  common,  in  reference  to  their  present, 
as  well  as  their  future  interests,  than  for  men  "to 
have  eyes  and  see  not." 

Here,  however,  I  am  met  by  the  objection  that  the 
belief  of  a  man  is  not  within  his  own  power,  but  that 
he  is  compelled  to  believe  according  to  certain  laws  of 
evidence.  This  objection  I  do  not  apprehend  to  be 
of  very  wide  influence  ;  but  I  have  met  with  a  few 
men  of  intelligence  who  have  held  to  it,  and  it  has 
been  sustained  by  some  names  of  high  authority.  I 
am  therefore  bound  to  notice  it. 

In  this  case,  as  in  most  others  of  a  similar  kind,  the 
objection  involves  a  partial  truth,  from  which  its  })lausi- 
bility  is  derived.  It  is  true,  within  certain  limitations, 
and  under  certain  conditions,  and  with  respect  to 
certain  kinds  of  truth,  that  we  are  not  voluntary  in  our 
belief;  but  then  these  conditions  and  limitations  are 
such  as  entirely  to  sever  from  this  truth  any  conse- 
quence that  we  are  not  perfectly  ready  to  admit. 

We  admit  that  belief  is  in  no  case  directly  depend- 
ent on  the  will ;  that  in  some  cases  it  is  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  it;  but  he  must  be  exceedingly  bigoted,  or 
unobservant  of  what  passes  around  him,  who  should 
affirm  that  the  will  has  no  influence.  The  influence  of 
the  will  here  is  analogous  to  its  influence  in  many  other 
cases.  It  is  as  great  as  it  is  over  the  objects  which 
we  see.     It  does  not  depend  upon  the  will  of  any  man, 


20  LECTURE    I. 

if  he  turns  his  eyes  in  a  particular  direction,  whether 
he  shall  see  a  tree  there.  If  the  tree  be  there,  he 
must  see  it,  and  is  compelled  to  believe  in  its  exist- 
ence ;  but  it  was  entirely  within  his  power  not  to  turn 
his  eyes  in  that  direction,  and  thus  to  remain  uncon- 
vinced, on  the  highest  of  all  evidence,  of  the  existence 
of  the  tree,  and  unimpressed  by  its  beauty  and  pro- 
portion. It  is  not  by  his  will  directly  that  man  has 
any  control  over  his  thoughts.  It  is  not  by  willing  a 
thought  into  the  mind  that  he  can  call  it  there ;  and 
yet  we  all  know  that  through  attention  and  habits  of 
association  the  subjects  of  our  thoughts  are,  to  a  great 
extent,  directed  by  the  will. 

It  is  precisely  so  in  respect  to  belief;  and  he  who 
denies  this,  denies  the  value  of  candor,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  party  spirit,  and  prejudice,  and  interest,  on  the 
mind.  So  great  is  this  influence,  however,  that  a 
keen  observer  of  human  nature,  and  one  who  will  not 
be  suspected  of  leaning  unduly  to  the  doctrine  I  now 
advocate,  has  supposed  it  to  extend  even  to  our  belief 
of  mathematical  truth.  "  Men,"  says  Hobbes,  "  appeal 
from  custom  to  reason,  and  from  reason  to  custom,  as 
it  serves  their  turn,  receding  from  custom  when  their 
interest  requires  it,  and  setting  themselves  against 
reason  as  oft  as  reason  is  against  them ;  which  is 
the  cause  that  the  doctrine  of  right  and  wrong  is  per- 
petually disputed  both  by  the  pen  and  the  sword  ; 
whereas  the  doctrine  of  lines  and  figures  is  not  so, 
because  men  care  not,  in  that  subject,  what  is  truth, 
as  it  is  a  thing  that  crosses  no  man's  ambition, 
or  profit,  or  lust.  For,  I  doubt  not,  if  it  had  been  a 
thing  contrary  to  any  man's  right  of  dominion,  or  to 
the  interest  of  men  that  have  dominion,  that  tiie  three 


LECTURE  I.  21 

angles  of  a  triangle  should  be  equal  to  two  angles  of  a 
square,  that  doctrine  should  have  been,  if  not  disputed, 
jet  by  the  burning  of  all  books  of  geometry,  sup- 
pressed, as  far  as  he  whom  it  concerned  was  able." 
"This,"  says  Hallam,  from  whose  work  I  make  the 
quotation,  "  does  not  exaggerate  the  pertinacity  of 
mankind  in  resisting  the  evidence  of  truth  when  it 
thwarts  the  interests  or  passions  of  any  particular 
sect  or  community."*  Let  a  man  who  hears  the  forty- 
seventh  proposition  of  Euclid  announced  for  the  first 
time,  trace  the  steps  of  the  demonstration,  and  he  must 
believe  it  to  be  true  ;  but  let  him  know  that,  as  soon 
as  he  does  perceive  the  evidence  of  that  proposition  so 
as  to  believe  it  on  that  ground,  he  shall  lose  his  right 
eye,  and  he  will  never  trace  the  evidence,  or  come  to 
that  belief  which  results  from  the  force  of  the  only 
proper  evidence.  You  may  tell  him  it  is  true,  but  he 
will  reply  that  he  does  not  know,  he  does  not  see  it 
to  be  so. 

So  far,  then,  from  finding  in  this  law  of  belief — the 
law  by  which  it  is  necessitated  on  condition  of  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  evidence  perceived  by  the  mind — an 
excuse  for  any  who  do  not  receive  the  evidence  of  the 
Christian  religion,  it  is  in  this  very  law  that  I  find  the 
ground  of  their  condemnation.  Certainly,  if  God  has 
provided  evidence  as  convincing  as  that  for  the  forty- 
seventh  of  Euclid,  so  that  all  men  have  to  do  is  to  exam- 
ine it  with  candor,  then  they  must  be  without  excuse  if 
they  do  not  believe.  This,  I  suppose,  God  has  done. 
He  asks  no  one  to  believe  except  on  the  ground  of  evi- 
dence, and  such  evidence  as  ought  to  command  assent. 

*  literature  of  Europe,  vol.  iii. 


22  LECTURE    I. 

Let  a  man  examine  this  evidence  with  entire  candor, 
laying   aside    all  regard   for   consequences  or   results, 
simply  according  to  the  laws  of  evidence,  and  then,  if 
he  is  not  convinced,  I  believe  God  will,  so  far  forth, 
acquit  him  in  the  great  day  of  account.     But  if  God 
has  given  men  such    evidence  that    a  fair,    and    full, 
and  perfectly  candid  examination  is  all  that  is  needed 
to  necessitate  belief,  then,  if  men  do  not  believe,  it 
will  be  in  this  very  law  that  we  shall  find  the  ground 
of  their  condemnation.     The  difficulty  will  not  lie  in 
their  mental  constitution  as  related  to  evidence,  nor 
in  the  want  of  evidence,  but  in  that  moral  condition, 
that  state  of  the  heart,  or  the  will,  which  prevented  a 
proper    examination.      "There    seems,"    says  Butler, 
"  no  possible  reason  to  be  given  why  we  may  not  be 
in  a  state  of  moral  probation  with  regard  to  the  exer- 
cise of  our  understanding  upon  the  subject  of  religion, 
as  we   are   with  regard   to  our   behavior  in  common 
affairs.     The  former  is  a  thing   as  much  within   our 
power  and  choice  as  the  latter." 

And  here,  I  remark  incidentally,  we  see  what  it  is 
for  truth  to  have  a  fair  chance.  There  are  many  who 
think  it  has  this  when  it  is  left  free  to  combat  error 
without  the  intervention  of  external  force ;  and  they 
seem  to  suppose  it  will,  of  necessity,  prevail.  But  the 
fact  is,  that  the  truth  almost  never  has  a  fair  chance 
with  such  a  being  as  man,  when  the  reception  of  it 
involves  self-denial,  or  the  recognition  of  duties  to 
which  he  is  indisposed.  Let  "  the  mists  that  steam 
up  before  the  intellect  from  a  corrupt  heart  be  dis- 
persed," and  truths,  before  obscure,  shine  out  as  the 
noondav.  Before  the  mind  of  one  with  the  intellect 
of  a  man,  but  with  the  purity  and  unselfishness  of  an 


LECTURE    I.  23 

angel,  the  evidence  of  such  a  system  as  the  gospel 
would  have  a  fair  chancre. 

Is  it  true,  then,  that,  if  a  perfectly  candid  attention 
be  given  to  its  evidences,  a  certainty  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity  will  be  produced  in  the  mind  at  this  late 
day,  and  in  these  ends  of  the  earth  ?  I  say.  Yes ;  and 
I  say  it  in  full  view  of  the  kind  of  evidence  by  which 
Christianity  is  supported,  and  which,  by  some,  is  sup- 
posed incapable  of  producing  certainty.  Let  us  look 
at  this  point. 

What,  then,  is  the  kind  of  evidence  by  which  Cluis- 
tianity  is  supported  ?  And  here  I  am  ready  to  say,  it 
is  moral  evidence,  as  opposed  to  mathematical,  and 
what  is  called  probable  evidence,  as  opposed  to  demon- 
strative. Is,  then,  mathematical  evidence  a  better 
ground  of  certainty  than  moral  evidence  ?  On  this 
point,  and  also  respecting  the  subjects  to  which  mathe- 
matical evidence  can  properly  be  applied,  there  is  a 
wrong  impression  extensively  prevalent,  not  only  in 
the  community  at  large,  but  among  educated  men. 
Figures,  it  is  said,  cannot  lie,  and  there  seems  to  be 
an  impression  that  where  they  are  used,  the  result 
must  be  certain.  But  when  a  surveyor  measures  the 
sides  and  angles  of  a  field,  and  ascertains  the  contents 
by  calculation,  is  he  certain  he  has  the  exact  contents 
of  that  field  ?  He  may  be  so  if  no  mistake  has  been 
made  in  measuring  the  sides  and  angles.  But  of  that 
he  never  can  be  certain  ;  or,  if  he  is,  it  cannot  be  by 
mathematical  evidence.  His  accuracy  will  depend 
upon  the  perfection  of  his  instruments,  of  which  he 
never  can  be  certain.  So  it  will  be  found  in  all  cases 
of  what  are  called  mixed  mathematics.  There  are 
elements  entering  into  the  result  that  do  not  depend 


24  LECTURE    I. 

on  mathematical  evidence,  and  therefore  the  evidence 
for  that  result  is  not  demonstrative.  Even  in  those 
results  in  which  the  greatest  confidence  is  felt,  and  in 
which  there  seems  to  be,  and  perhaps  is,  an  entire  co- 
incidence with  fact,  the  certainty  that  is  felt  does  not 
result  from  mathematical  evidence.  No  man,  who 
understands  the  nature  of  the  evidence  on  which  he 
proceeds,  would  say  he  had  demonstrated  that  there 
would  be  an  eclipse  next  year.  His  expectation  of  it 
would  depend,  not  on  mathematical  evidence,  but 
upon  his  belief  in  the  stability  of  the  law^s  of  nature. 
And  even  in  accordance  with  those  laws,  it  is  not  im- 
possible that  some  new  comet  may  come  in  athwart 
the  orbit  of  the  earth  or  the  moon,  and  disturb  their 
relative  position. 

But,  says  the  objector,  I  speak  oi pure  mathematics, 
and  of  the  certainty  of  their  evidence.  I  say,  then, 
with  regard  to  pure  mathematics,  that  it  has  no  ap- 
plication to  facts.  No  fact  can  be  demonstrated. 
Nothing  whatever,  no  assertion  about  any  thing  that 
ever  did  exist,  or  ever  can  exist,  can  be  demonstrated, 
that  is,  proved,  by  evidence  purely  mathematical.  This 
will  be  assented  to  by  all  who  understand  the  nature 
of  mathematical  evidence,  and  it  can  be  easily  shown. 
It  can  be  demonstrated  that  the  two  acute  angles  in 
every  right-angled  triangle  are  equal  to  the  right  angle; 
but  can  this  be  demonstrated  of  any  actually  existing 
triangle  ?  Draw  w^hat  you  call  a  right-angled  triangle, 
and  can  you  demonstrate  it  about  that  ?  No.  You 
cannot  demonstrate  that  your  given  triangle  is  right- 
angled.  Whether  it  is  or  not  will  depend  upon  the 
perfection  of  your  instruments  and  the  perfection  of  the 
senses.     Accordingly,  demonstration  never  asserts,  and 


LECTURE    I.  25 

never  can  assert,  of  any  triangle,  that  it  is  right-angled ; 
but  its  language  is.  Let  it  be  a  right-angled  triangle, 
suppose  it  to  be,  and  then  the  two  acute  angles  will  be 
equal  to  that  right  angle.  It  asserts  nothing  whatever 
about  any  thing  that  actually  exists,  but  only  the  con- 
nection between  a  certain  supposition  and  a  certain 
conclusion.*  Whatever  certainty  we  have,  therefore, 
about  any  thing  that  actually  exists,  or  has  existed,  or 
can  exist,  is  derived,  not  from  mathematical,  but  from 
what  is  called  moral  or  })robable  evidence. 

Nay,  I  go  farther,  and  assert  that  the  certainty  of 
the  connection  between  the  supposition  or  hypothesis 
and  the  conclusion  —  that  is,  of  that  kind  of  hypothet- 
ical truth  which  alone  can  be  demonstrated  —  is  itself 
dependent  upon  evidence  that  is  not  mathematical. 
Two  things  are  requisite  to  a  demonstration.  The 
first  is,  that  it  should  start  from  an  hypothesis  or  suppo- 
sition for  its  first  principle.  If  it  starts  from  a  fact,  it 
will  not  be  a  demonstration.  And  the  second  is,  that 
there  should  be  intuitive  evidence  at  every  step.  But 
when  a  man  has  started  from  his  hypothesis,  and  gone 
on,  step  by  step,  to  his  conclusion,  how  does  he  know 
that  he  has  had  intuitive  evidence  at  every  step  ?  He 
knows  it,  and  he  knows  it  only,  by  the  evidence  of 
memory,  which  certainly  is  not  mathematical  or  de- 
monstrative evidence.  Without  this,  his  whole  demon- 
stration would  be  a  rope  of  sand. 

What,  then,  shall  we  say  of  the  reasonableness,  or 
rather  of  the  folly,  of  those  who  ask  for  mathematical 
evidence  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion, 
when  that  evidence  cannot  be  applied  to  prove  any 
one  fact  whatever  ?     And  what  shall  we  say  of  the 

*  Stewart's  Elements,  vol.  ii.  chap.  ii.  sec.  3. 
4 


26  LECTURE   1. 

boasted  superiority  of  mathematical  evidence,  when  the 
certainty  which  any  man  feels  even  for  such  a  hypothet- 
ical conclusion  as  can  be  demonstrated  is,  after  all, 
dependent  upon  evidence  that  is  not  mathematical  ? 

I  would  by  no  means  disparage  mathematics.  I  ac- 
knowledge their  extensive  utility  and  application,  I 
am  surprised  at  that  skill  in  the  construction  of  in- 
struments by  which  truths  demonstrated  concerning 
supposed  lines  and  figures  can  be  so  correctly  and 
generally  applied  to  the  purposes  of  practical  life.  I 
look  with  wonder  upon  tliat  structure  of  the  universe, 
by  which  truths  demonstrated  concerning  these  same 
abstract  propositions  are  found  to  apply  with  so  much 
exactness  to  its  forms,  and  forces,  and  movements  ;  but 
still,  I  would  have  this  science  keep  within  its  own 
sphere,  and  not  arrogate  to  itself  a  certainty  which 
does  not  belong  to  it  in  virtue  of  its  own  authority, 
and  which  operates  practically  to  throw  distrust  upon 
our  conclusions  in  other  departments. 

Either,  then,  there  is  certainty  on  other  ground  than 
mathematical  evidence,  or  there  is  no  certainty  con- 
cerning any  fact  or  existing  thing  whatever,  and  there 
will  be  no  stopping  short  of  that  fundamental  skepti- 
cism which  denies  the  authority  of  the  human  faculties, 
and  doubts  of  every  thing,  and  finally  doubts  whether 
it  doubts. 

If,  then,  such  certainty  may  be  attained,  our  next 
inquiry  will  be.  What  are  the  grounds  of  it?  And  of 
these  there  are  no  less  than  six. 

The  first  is  that  which  is  now  commonlv  called 
Reason,  in  man,  or  by  some  the  Reason,  by  which  he 
perceives  directly,  intuitively,  necessarily,  and  believes, 


LECTURE    I.  27 

with  a  conviction  from  wliicli  he  cannot  free  himself, 
certain  fundamental  truths,  u})on  which  all  other  truths, 
and  all  reasoning,  properly  so  called,  or  deduction,  are 
conditioned.  It  is  by  this  that  we  believe  in  our  own 
existence  and  personal  identity,  and  in  the  maxim 
that  every  event  must  have  an  adequate  cause.  This 
belongs  equally  to  all  men,  and,  within  its  own  prov- 
ince, its  authority  is  perfect.  No  authority  can  be 
higher,  no  certainty  more  full  and  absolute,  than  that 
which  it  gives.  No  man  can  believe  any  thing  with  a 
certainty  greater  than  that  with  which  he  believes  in 
his  own  existence ;  and,  if  we  may  suppose  such  a 
case,  he  who  should  doubt  of  his  own  existence 
would,  in  that  single  doubt,  necessarily  involve  the 
doubt  of  every  thing  else. 

The  second  ground  of  certainty  is  consciousness. 
By  this  we  are  informed  of  what  is  passing  within  our 
own  minds.     We  are  certain  that  we  think  and  feel. 

The  third  ground  of  certainty  is  the  evidence  of  the 
senses.  I  do  not  deny  that  the  senses  may  deceive 
us — that  they  sometimes  do;  but  I  affirm  that  gen- 
erally the  evidence  of  the  senses  is  the  ground  of  entire 
certainty  to  the  mass  of  mankind.  To  them  "  seeing 
is  believing,"  and  they  can  conceive  of  no  greater 
certainty  than  that  which  results  from  this  evidence. 
Whatever  doubt  some  may  attempt  to  cast  over  this 
subject,  it  is  obvious  that  no  event  whatever  —  not  the 
flowing;  of  water  towards  its  source — can  be  a  greater 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature,  more  in  opposition  to 
its  ordinary  sequences,  than  would  be  a  deception 
upon  the  senses  of  men  with  respect  to  certain  things 
and  under  certain  circumstances.  It  would  be  as 
great   a  miracle    to   make    three    millions   of    people 


28  LECTURE   I. 

believe  that  they  went  out  and  gathered  manna  —  that 
they  saw,  and  felt,  and  tasted  it  —  when  they  really 
did  not,  as  it  would  if  water  should  flow  back  towards 
its  source,  or  should  divide  and  stand  up  in  heaps. 

The  fourth  ground  of  certainty  is  the  evidence  of 
memory.  It  is  on  the  validity  of  this,  as  I  have 
already  said,  that  the  certainty  of  a  mathematical 
demonstration  depends.  Without  entire  confidence  in 
this,  no  testimony  could  be  taken  in  a  court  of  justice, 
no  criminal  could  be  convicted.  When  its  testimony 
is  perfectly  clear  and  distinct,  it  leaves  no  doubt  on 
the  mind. 

The  fifth  ground  of  certainty  is  testimony.  With 
respect  to  this,  I  would  say  substantially  the  same  that 
I  have  said  of  the  senses.  No  doubt,  as  has  been  said 
by  Hume,  and  as  every  body  knows,  testimony  some- 
times deceives  us;  but  it  has  not  been  enough  in- 
sisted on,  that  testimony  may  be  given  by  such  men, 
and  so  many,  and  under  such  circumstances,  as  to  form 
a  ground  of  certainty  as  valid  as  any  other  can  possi- 
bly be.  I  do  not  now  say  that  the  testimony  for  the 
Christian  religion  is  of  this  character ;  but  I  say,  if  it 
is  not,  the  difficulty  lies,  not  in  the  kind  of  evidence,  as 
distinguished  from  mathematical,  but  in  the  degree  of 
it  in  this  particular  case. 

The  sixth  ground  of  certainty  is  reasoning.  That 
this  is  so  in  mathematics,  all  will  admit.  On  other 
subjects,  the  certainty  may  be  equally  full  and  absolute. 
When  Robinson  Crusoe  saw  the  track  of  a  man's  foot 
upon  the  shore  of  his  island,  he  was  as  certain  there 
had  been  a  man  there  as  if  he  had  seen  him.  It  was 
reasoning  ;  it  was  inferring,  from  a  fact  which  he  knew 
by  sensation,  another  fact  which  he  did  not  thus  know ; 


LECTURE    I.  29 

but  how  perfectly  conclusive !  The  skeptic  never 
lived  who  would  have  doubted  it.  This  kind  of  evi- 
dence is  capable  of  every  degree  of  probability,  from 
the  slightest  shade  of  it  upwards.  It  often  requires 
that  a  large  number  of  circumstances  should  be  taken 
into  the  account,  and,  in  many  cases,  does  not  amount 
to  positive  proof.  In  many  others,  however,  it  does ; 
and  the  circumstance  on  which  I  wish  to  fix  attention 
is,  that  it  may  be  the  ground  of  a  belief  as  fixed  and 
certain  as  any  other. 

These,  then,  are  the  grounds  of  certainty,  and  each 
has  its  peculiar  province.  Of  these,  each  of  the  first 
three  —  reason,  consciousness,  and  the  senses  —  is  en- 
tirely competent  within  its  own  sphere,  and,  indeed, 
scarcely  admits  of  collateral  support.  Not  so  the  last 
three.  The  evidence  of  memory,  of  testimony,  and  of 
reasoning,  may  mutually  assist  and  confirm  each  other. 
It  is  upon  the  last  two,  the  evidence  of  testimony  and 
of  reasoning,  that  we  rely  for  the  support  of  what  are 
called  the  external  proofs  of  Christianity  ;  and  if  one  of 
these  is  capable  of  producing  certainty,  much  more,  if 
certainty  admitted  of  degrees,  would  they  both  when 
conspiring  together. 

I  have  dwelt  on  this  subject  because  it  seems  to  me 
that  many  persons  indulge  themselves  in  a  sickly  and 
effeminate  habit  of  doubt  on  all  subjects  without  the 
pale  of  mathematics  and  physics,  and  more  especially 
on  the  subject  of  religion.  So  much  has  been  said, 
there  are  so  many  opinions  and  so  much  doubt  re- 
specting different  points  of  the  reli«iion  itself,  that  this 
feeline;  of  doubt  has  been  transferred  to  the  evidence 
by  which  the  religion  is  sustained.  I  wish,  therefore, 
to  have  it  distinctly  felt  that  the  kind  of  evidence  by 


30  LECTURE    1. 

which  Christianity  is  sustained  is  capable  of  producing 
certainty,  and  I  claim  that  the  evidences  are  such  that, 
when  fully  and  fairly  examined,  they  will  produce  it. 
They  amount  to  what  is  meant  by  a  moral  demonstra- 
tion. There  are  many  subjects  on  which,  from  want 
of  evidence,  or  because  they  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
our  faculties,  it  is  wise,  and  the  mark  of  a  strong  mind, 
to  doubt ;  and  there  are  also  subjects  on  which  it  is 
equally  the  mark  of  a  weak  mind  to  doubt,  and  of  a 
strong  one  to  give  a  full  assent.  The  day,  I  trust,  has 
gone  by  when  a  habit  of  doubt  and  of  skepticism  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  mark  of  superior  intellect. 

But,  though  testimony  and  reasoning  may  produce 
the  certainty  of  mathematical  demonstration  in  some 
circumstances,  yet  is  it  not  possible  that  one  of  these 
sources  of  evidence  may  so  come  in  conflict  with  the 
other  as  to  leave  the  mind  in  entire  suspense  ?  Is  it 
not  possible  that  an  amount  of ,  testimony  which, 
when  we  look  at  it  by  itself,  seems  perfectly  conclu- 
sive, may  yet  be  opposed  by  an  argument  which, 
when  taken  by  itself,  seems  perfectly  conclusive,  and 
thus  the  mind  be  left  in  a  state  of  hopeless  perplexity.^ 
This  may  be  conceived  ;  and,  putting  the  testimony  for 
Christianity  in  the  most  favorable  light,  it  is  precisely 
the  condition  in  which  it  is  claimed,  by  Hume  and  his 
followers,  that  the  mind  of  a  reasonable  person  must 
be  thrown,  by  his  argument  on  miracles.  Shall  I, 
then,  go  on  to  state  and  answer  that  argument  ?  I 
am  not  unwilling  to  do  so  ;  because  it  will,  I  presume, 
be  expected ;  and  because  it  is  still  the  custom  of 
those  who  defend  Christianity  to  do  so,  just  as  it  was 
the  custom  of  British  ships  to  fire  a  gun  on  passing  the 


LECTURE    I.  31 

port  of  Copenhagen,  long  after  its  power  had  been 
prostrated,  and  its  influence  had  ceased  to  be  felt. 

"Experience,"  says  Hume,  "is  our  only  guide  con- 
cerning matters  of  fact.  Oar  belief  or  assurance  of 
any  fact  from  the  report  of  eye-witnesses  is  derived 
from  no  other  principle  than  experience  ;  that  is,  our 
observation  of  the  veracity  of  human  testimony.  Now, 
if  the  fact  attested  partakes  of  the  marvellous,  if  it  is 
such  as  has  seldom  fallen  under  our  observation,  here 
is  a  contest  of  two  opposite  experiences,  of  which  the 
one  destroys  the  other,  as  far  as  its  force  goes,  and  the 
superior  can  only  operate  on  the  mind  by  the  force 
which  remains.  Further,  if  the  fact  affirmed  by  eye- 
witnesses, instead  of  being  only  marvellous,  is  really 
miraculous ;  if,  besides,  the  testimony,  considered 
apart  and  in  itself,  amounts  to  an  entire  proof;  in 
that  case,  there  is  proof  against  proof,  of  which  the 
strongest  must  prevail,  but  still  with  a  diminution  of 
force  in  proportion  to  that  of  its  antagonist.  A  miracle 
is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature ;  and  as  a  firm  and 
unalterable  experience  has  established  these  laws,  the 
proof  against  a  miracle,  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
fact,  is  as  entire  as  any  argument  from  experience  can 
possibly  be  imagined.  And  if  so,  it  is  an  undeniable 
consequence,  that  it  cannot  be  surmounted  by  any- 
proof  whatever  from  testimony." 

And  here  I  observe  that  Hume  takes  it  for  granted, 
that  what  we  call  a  miracle  is  contrary  to  the  uni- 
formity of  nature.  Indeed,  his  own  definition  of  a 
miracle  is,  that  it  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature. 
But  how  can  we  know  that  what  we  call  a  miracle  is 
not,  in  the  highest  and  most  proper  sense,  as  natural 
as  any  other  event  ?     By  the  term  natural,  we  mean 


32  LECTURE    I. 

Stated,  fixed,  uniform.  Whatever  happens  statedly  in 
given  circumstances,  we  call  natural.  If  men  rose 
from  the  dead  as  statedly,  after  a  year,  as  they  now 
do  from  sleep  in  the  morning,  one  would  be  as  natural 
as  the  other,  and  would  occasion  no  more  surprise.  In 
accordance  with  this  definition,  we  call  an  event  natu- 
ral, though  it  happen  but  once  in  a  thousand  years, 
provided  it  come  round  statedly  at  the  end  of  that  time. 
The  appearance  of  a  comet  having  the  periodical  time 
of  a  thousand  years,  would  be  just  as  natural  as  the 
rising  of  the  sun.  But  if  we  suppose  such  a  comet  to 
appear  for  the  first  time,  and  that  were  the  only  one 
in  the  system,  it  is  plain  no  man  could  tell  whether  it 
was  natural  or  not.  When  it  should  come  round  again 
and  again,  it  would  be  considered  natural. 

But  who  can  tell  whether,  in  the  vast  cycles  of 
God's  moral  government,  miracles  may  not  have  been 
provided  for,  and  come  in,  at  certain  distant  points,  as 
statedly  and  uniformly,  and  therefore  as  naturally,  as 
any  thing  else  ?  Who  can  tell  whether  a  miracle  may 
not  be,  to  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  as  the  occa- 
sional and  momentary  reversing  of  the  engine  that  is 
bearing  the  cars  onward  ?  A  man  gets  into  a  railroad 
car  for  the  first  time,  and  moves  uniformly  forward, 
perhaps  for  the  course  of  a  day,  and  he  may  suppose 
the  engine  capable  of  no  other  motion.  He  has  gone 
a  whole  day,  and  has  had  no  experience  of  any  other. 
But  an  emergency  occurs,  and  the  motion  of  the  engine 
is  reversed.  He  now  perceives  that  it  is  capable  of  an 
adjustment  and  a  movement  required  only  on  particu- 
lar occasions,  of  which  he  was  before  wholly  ignorant. 
But  a  thousand  years  are  with  God  as  one  day;  and 
it  may  be,  it  is  not  altogether  improbable,  that  as  the 


LECTURE    I.  33 

engine,  and  the  cars,  and  whole  material  apparatus  are 
made  for  the  convenience  and  benefit  of  the  passen- 
gers, so  the  mighty  train  of  the  universe,  with  its 
countless  hosts  of  suns  and  stars,  was  made  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  the  passengers  that  are  in  it;  and 
though  God  may  roll  it  forward  with  an  uninterrupted 
motion  for  a  thousand  years,  yet  that  then  the  emer- 
gency may  occur,  and  that  he  may  for  a  moment 
reverse  the  motion,  and  say,  "  Sun,  stand  thou  still 
upon  Gibeon,  and  thou,  moon,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon." 
What  should  prevent  it  ?  What  do  we  know  of  the 
plans  and  jiurposes  of  God  to  enable  us  to  say  that 
this  is  improbable,  especially  if  we  suppose  it  demanded 
by  the  exigencies  of  his  moral  government,  and  the 
good  of  his  sensitive  and  rational  creation  ? 

But  the  truth  is,  Hume  does  not  take  the  moral 
government  of  God  into  his  account  at  all.  This  is 
his  great  mistake.  It  is  like  the  mistake  of  the  as- 
tronomer who  should  carefully  notice  the  circular 
movement  of  the  planets  around  their  primaries,  but 
should  fail  to  notice  that  mightier  movement  by  which, 
as  we  are  told,  planets  and  suns  are  all  borne  onward 
towards  some  unknown  point  in  infinite  space.  Expe- 
rience may  enable  him  to  determine,  and  to  calculate, 
the  movements  of  the  first  order ;  but  if  he  would 
know  those  of  the  second,  he  must  inquire  of  Him  who 
carries  it  forward.  The  moral  government  of  God  is  a 
movement  in  a  line  onwards  towards  some  grand  con- 
summation, in  which  the  principles,  indeed,  are  ever 
the  same,  but  the  developments  are  always  new,  — in 
which,  therefore,  no  experience  of  the  past  can  indicate 
with  certainty  what  new  openings  of  truth,  what  new 
manifestations  of  goodness,  what  new  phases  of  the 
moral  heavens,  may  appear. 


34  LECTURE    I. 

The  difficulty  with  the  most  of  those  who  have  op- 
posed Hume  has  been  that  they  have  permitted  him, 
while  arguing  the  question  ostensibly  on  the  ground  of 
theism,  to  involve  positions  that  are  really  atheistic. 
They  have  permitted  him  to  give,  surreptitiously,  to 
the  mere  physical  laws  of  nature  a  sacredness  and  a 
permanence  which  put  them  in  the  place  of  God.  Let 
the  question  be  fairly  stated,  and  it  would  seem  impos- 
sible there  should  be  any  difficulty  respecting  it.  Do 
we  believe  in  the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  intelli- 
gent and  free  ?  —  not  a  God  who  is  a  part  of  nature,  or 
a  mere  personification  of  the  powers  of  nature,  but  one 
who  is  as  distinct  from  nature  as  the  builder  of  the 
house  is  from  the  house  ?  Do  we  either  believe,  with 
our  best  philosophers,  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  only 
the  stated  mode  in  which  this  God  operates,  or  that 
all  nature,  with  all  its  laws,  are  perfectly  under  his 
control?  Then  we  can  find  no  difficulty  in  believing 
that  such  a  God  may,  at  any  time  when  the  good  of 
his  creatures  requires  it,  change  the  mode  of  his  opera- 
tion, and  suspend  those  laws.  Would  Hume  accept 
this  statement  of  the  question  ?  If  so,  the  dispute  is 
at  an  end,  for  this  relation  of  God  to  nature  involves 
the  possibility  both  of  a  miracle  and  of  its  proof.  It  is 
incompatible  with  this  relation,  that  experience  should 
ever  attain  that  character  of  absolute  and  necessary 
uniformity  in  virtue  of  which  alone  its  evidence  can  be 
set  in  opposition  to  that  of  testimony.  If  he  would  not 
accept  this  statement,  he  is  an  atheist  or  a  pantheist  ; 
and  we  are  not  yet  prepared  to  argue  the  question  of 
miracles,  for  that  cannot  be  argued  until  it  is  fully 
conceded  that  a  personal  God  exists. 

The  above  seems  to  me  a  sufficient  answer  to  the 


LECTURE    I.  35 

argument  of  Hume.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means  the 
only  one  ;  and  as  a  full  discussion  of  it  involves  some 
collateral  points  that  do  not  seem  to  be  fully  settled, 
I  will  pursue  it  a  little  farther. 

If  we  use  the  phrase  "  course  of  nature  "  in  its  more 
restricted  and  usual  sense,  then  the  only  possible  way 
in  which  a  miracle  can  be  a  violation  of  that  course,  or 
contrary  to  experience,  is,  that  it  never  happened,  and 
was  never  observed  ;  for  if  it  had  haj)pened,  and  had 
been  observed,  then  it  would  constitute  a  part  of  uni- 
versal experience.  But  to  say  that  a  violation,  or, 
more  properly,  a  suspension,  of  the  laws  of  nature 
never  ha})pened  because  those  laws  are  uniform,  is 
taking  for  granted  the  very  point  in  dispute.  It  is  as 
bald  and  barefaced  a  begging  of  the  question  as  can 
well  be  imagined.  Suppose  the  question  to  be  whether 
a  dead  man  has  been  raised.  "  No,"  says  Hume,  "  be- 
cause " —  these  are  his  own  words  —  "it  has  never 
been  witnessed  in  any  age  or  country  that  a  dead  man 
should  come  to  life."     Is  this  reasoning  ? 

Grant  to  Hume  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  abso- 
lutely uniform,  and  you  preclude,  of  course,  all  proof 
for  a  miracle.  This  is  the  fundamental  premise  by 
which  he  attempts  to  show  that  a  miracle  cannot  be 
proved  by  testimony;  and  whoever  grants  him  this 
grants  the  very  point  in  dispute.  The  laws  of  nature, 
when  it  is  once  conceded  that  they  are  laws,  are  of 
equal  authority ;  and  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  in- 
validate the  authority  of  one  by  bringing  against  it 
that  of  another,  by  whatever  amount  of  induction  it 
may  have  been  established.  This  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  perceived  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  in  his  very 
elaborate  attempt  to  refute  the  argument  of  Hume,  or 


36  LECTURE    I. 

rather  in  his  attempt,  while  he  allows  that  argument 
to  have  force,  to  overbalance  it  by  a  greater  force. 
But  the  argument  of  Hume  is  either  conclusive  or  it 
is  of  no  force  whatever.  How,  then,  does  Chalmers 
meet  it  ?  He  grants  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  uni- 
form, and  says  that  there  are  laws  of  testimony,  which 
are  a  part  of  the  laws  of  nature,  as  uniform  as  any 
other,  and  that  there  are  certain  kinds  of  testimony  in 
regard  to  which  the  uniform  experience  is,  that  they  do 
not  deceive  us ;  and  then  he  goes  on  to  show,  with 
great  power,  how  the  force  of  testimony  may  be  accu- 
mulated so  as  to  overbalance  any  improbability  what- 
ever, I  admit  fully  all  that  he  says  on  the  force  of 
testimony.  But  let  its  force  be  ever  so  great,  if  it 
were  a  fact  that  no  testimony  was  ever  known  to 
deceive  us,  yet  even  then,  if  we  admit  the  premise  of 
Hume,  we  only  balance  uniform  experience  against 
uniform  experience,  and  thus  produce  the  very  case 
of  perplexity  spoken  of  by  him.  Chalmers  saw,  with 
great  clearness,  the  amazing  force  of  testimony  as  proof. 
He  says,  in  opposition  to  Campbell  and  others,  that 
our  belief  in  testimony  is  founded  solely  on  experience, 
and  that  there  are  certain  kinds  of  testimony  of  which 
we  have  uniform  experience  that  they  do  not  deceive 
us.  But  he  failed  to  see  that  no  uniform  experience 
of  the  truth  of  testimony  could  prove  a  fact  that  had 
been  already  admitted  to  be  contrary  to  "  a  firm  and 
unalterable  experience."  "  A  firm  and  unalterable 
experience"  of  the  truth  of  testimony  can  never  prove 
a  fact  which  can  be  fairly  shown  to  be  contrary  to 
another  firm  and  unalterable  experience. 

The  argument  of  Hume  implies,  and  Chalmers  ad- 
mits, this  opposition  of  the  evidence  of  testimony  and 


LECTURE    I.  37 

of  experience  in  the  proof  of  a  miracle.  I,  however, 
admit  of  no  such  opposition,  and  think  it  easy  to  show 
that  there  is  none.  Had  Hume  been  asked  why  he 
believed  the  course  of  nature  to  be  absolutely  uniform, 
he  must  have  answered,  that  he  believed  it  on  the 
ground  of  experience.  And  then,  if  asked  how  he 
knew  what  that  experience  had  been,  he  must  have  re- 
plied, by  testimony,  for  there  is  no  other  possible  way. 
And  thus  it  would  appear  that,  while  he  seems  to  op- 
pose the  evidence  of  experience  to  that  of  testimony, 
he  is  only  opposing  the  evidence  of  testimony  to  that 
of  testimony.  And  what  would  the  testimony  on  the 
side  of  Hume  amount  to,  in  such  a  case  ?  Why,  abso- 
lutely nothing,  because  it  is  merely  negative.  Let  a 
thousand  men  swear,  in  a  court  of  justice,  that  they  did 
not  see  a  murder  committed,  and  it  will  not  diminish  in 
the  least  the  force  of  the  testimony  of  one  man  who 
swears  that  he  did  see  it,  unless  the  thousand  pre- 
tend to  have  been  on  the  spot,  and  to  have  had  oppor- 
tunity to  witness  it.  In  this  case,  the  experience  of 
the  thousand  men  would  be  properly  said  to  be  con- 
trary to  that  of  the  one.  But  in  no  such  sense  can 
experience  be  said  to  be  contrary  to  the  testimony 
for  miracles.  If  any  number  of  men, — if  the  whole 
race,  —  with  the  exception  of  those  who  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  see,  and  who  did  see,  a  miracle,  should  testi- 
fy that  they  did  not  see  it,  that  would  not  invalidate, 
in  the  least,  the  testimony  of  those  who  did  see  it.  We 
should  judge  of  that  testimony  on  its  own  proper  merits. 
Thus  stands  the  argument,  if,  with  Hume,  we  place 
our  belief  in  the  uniformity  of  nature  on  the  ground 
of  experience.  But  is  this  really  the  ground  of  that 
belief?     I  think  not.     Nor  can  I  agree  with  Stewart 


38  LECTURE    I. 

and  other  metaphysicians,  who  place  "  the  expectation 
of  the  continued  uniformity  of  the  laws  of  nature" 
among  what  they  call  the  fundamental  laws  of  belief, 
which  we  believe  in  necessarily  and  without  reference 
to  experience.  This  is  not  the  place  for  the  full  dis- 
cussion of  this  point.  I  merely  observe  that,  so  far  is 
this  from  being  to  the  mind  a  law  of  belief,  to  the 
exclusion  of  supernatural  agency,  that  narrations  of 
such  agency  have  been  received  in  all  ages  upon  the 
slightest  evidence ;  and  that,  if  this  were  the  law,  then 
no  man  ought  to  believe,  or  could  believe,  in  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  or  a  future  judgment,  or  in  the 
destruction  or  change  of  the  present  order  of  nature  in 
any  way  whatever.  The  difficulty  lies  in  an  incautious 
and  narrow  statement  of  the  true  law.  The  true  law 
of  belief  is,  that  the  same  causes  will,  in  the  same 
circumstances,  produce  the  same  effects.  This  is  the 
law ;  and  when  applied  to  the  permanence  or  uni- 
formity of  the  course  of  nature,  it  will  stand  thus  :  The 
present  course  of  nature  will  be  uniform  and  perma- 
nent unless  other  causes  than  those  now  in  operation 
shall  intervene  to  interrupt  or  destroy  it.  The  proba- 
bility of  the  intervention  of  such  causes  is  a  point  on 
which  every  man  must  decide  for  himself.  To  me  it 
seems  probable  —  to  you,  perhaps,  improbable;  but 
there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  case  to  prevent  it 
from  being  proved  like  any  other  fact. 

Having  thus  put  this  question  upon  its  true  basis,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  say  very  little  of  the  particular 
fallacies  and  consequences  connected  with  the  argument 
of  Hume.     I  will  simply  add,  that, 

1.  This  argument  proceeds  on  a  principle  which 
would  make  it  unreasonable  to  believe  a  miracle  on 


LECTURE    I.  39 

the  testimony  of  the  senses.  There  is  precisely  the 
same  reason  for  opposing  the  evidence  of  experience  to 
that  of  the  senses,  as  for  opposing  it  to  that  of  testimony. 
}f  the  argument  would  overthrow  a  full  proof  from  tes- 
timony, the  senses  certainly  could  give  nothing  more. 

2.  Hume  uses  the  term  experience  in  two  senses. 
Personal  experience  is  the  knowledge  we  have  ac- 
quired by  our  own  senses.  General  experience  is  that 
knowledge  of  facts  which  has  been  acquired  by  the 
race.  If,  therefore,  Hume  says  a  miracle  is  contrary 
to  his  personal  experience,  that  proves  nothing;  but 
if  he  says  it  is  opposed  to  universal  experience,  that,  as 
has  already  been  said,  is  begging  the  question. 

3.  He  opposes  the  evidence  of  experience  to  that 
of  testimony,  evidently  with  the  intention  of  opposing 
to  testimony  the  high  authority  that  belongs  to  personal 
experience;  whereas,  in  the  sense  in  which  he  must 
use  the  term  "  experience,"  since,  as  has  been  said, 
we  can  know  what  general  experience  is  only  by  testi- 
monv,  he  is  only  opposing  testimony  to  testimony, 

4.  If  the  argument  of  Hume  be  correct,  then  no 
evidence  would  be  sufficient  to  prove  a  new  fact  in 
natural  science,  since  it  would  be  as  much  contrary  to 
universal  experience  as  a  miracle. 

And,  finally,  Hume  has  himself  renounced  the  prin- 
ciple of  his  own  argument.  He  seems,  after  having 
written  the  essay,  to  have  had  a  perception  of  some 
of  the  absurd  consequences  to  which  it  must  lead,  and 
therefore  adds,  in  a  note,  — "  I  own  there  may  possibly 
be  miracles  of  such  a  kind  as  to  admit  of  proof  from 
human  testimony."  This  single  admission  destroys  at 
once  the  whole  force  of  his  argument.  As  an  exam- 
ple, he  says,  —  "  Suppose  all  authors,  in  all  languages, 


40  LECTURE    I. 

agree  that,  from  the  first  of  January,  1600,  there  was  a 
total  darkness  over  all  the  earth  for  eight  days;  sup- 
pose the  tradition  of  this  event  is  still  strong  and 
lively  among  the  people;  that  all  travellers  bring  us 
accounts  of  the  same  tradition ;  it  is  evident  that  our 
philosophers  ought  to  receive  it  for  certain."  "  But," 
he  adds,  "should  this  miracle  be  ascribed  to  any  new 
system  of  religion,  men  in  all  ages  have  been  so  im- 
posed upon  by  ridiculous  stories  of  that  kind,  that  the 
very  circumstance  would  be  full  proof  of  a  cheat,  and 
sufficient,  with  all  men  of  sense,  not  only  to  make  them 
reject  the  fact,  but  to  reject  it  without  further  exam- 
ination." On  the  consistency  and  candor  of  this 
passage  1  make  no  comment.  Who,  after  reading  it, 
can  fail  to  feel  that  Hume  was  guilty  of  a  heartless, 
if  not  a  malignant  trifling  with  the  best  interests  of  his 
fellow-men  ? 

Thus,  after  mentioning  the  classes  of  persons  whom 
I  shall  hope  to  benefit,  I  have  endeavored  to  show,  first, 
that  you,  my  hearers,  are  responsible  for  the  manner  in 
which  you  use  your  understandings,  and  for  the  opin- 
ions you  form  on  this  great  subject.  And,  second,  that 
there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  or  kind  of  evidence  by 
which  Christianity  is  sustained,  nor  in  any  conflict  of  the 
evidence  of  experience  and  of  testimony,  to  prevent  us 
from  attaining  that  certainty  upon  which  we  may  rest  as 
upon  the  rock ;  and  which  shall  constitute,  if  not  "  the 
assurance  of  faith,"  yet  the  assurance  of  understanding. 


LECTURE   II. 


PRELIMINARY  OBSERVATIONS.  —  PROBABILITY  OF  A  REVE 
LATION;  FIRST,  FROM  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  CASE;  SEC- 
ONDLY, FROM  FACTS.  — PROBABILITY  OF  MIRACLES,  ASIDE 
FROM  THEIR  EFFECT  IN  SUSTAINING  ANY  PARTICULAR 
REVELATION.  — CONNECTION  BETWEEN  THE  MIRACLE  AND 
THE    DOCTRINE.— THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION,    OR    NONE. 

The  Christian  religion  admits  of  certain  proof;  and 
to  show  this  was  one  object  of  the  last  lecture.  But, 
in  searching  for  that  proof,  we  may  proceed  in  two 
different  methods.  We  may  either  try  the  facts  in 
question  by  the  laws  of  evidence,  precisely  as  we 
would  any  other  facts,  or  we  may  Judge  beforehand  of 
their  probability  or  improbability.  In  the  first  case, 
we  should  allow  nothing  for  what  we  might  suppose 
previous  probability  or  improbability,  nothing  for  the 
nature  of  the  facts  as  miraculous  or  common.  We 
should  hold  ourselves  in  the  position  of  an  impartial 
jury,  bound  to  decide  solely  according  to  the  evidence. 
This  course  alone  is  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
the  inductive  philosophy,  which  decides  nothing  on  the 
ground  of  previous  hypothesis,  but  yields  itself  entirely 
to  the  guidance  of  facts  properly  authenticated,  and 
refuses  no  conclusion  which  the  existence  of  those 
facts  necessarily  involves.  Let  those  who  are  to  judge 
of  Christianity  approach  it  in  this  spirit,  and  we  are 
content. 


42  LECTURE    II. 

And  surely,  if  this  spirit  was  demanded  when  the 
processes  of  nature  only  were  in  question,  —  and  the 
whole  history  of  human  conjecture  there  is  but  the 
history  of  weakness  and  folly,  so  that  science  made  no 
progress  till  facts,  established  by  proper  evidence,  were 
received  without  reference  to  hypothesis,  —  much  more 
must  this  same  spirit  be  demanded  when  the  procedure 
of  God  in  his  moral  government  is  concerned.  On 
such  a  subject,  nothing  can  be  more  contrary  to  that 
wise  caution  which  adheres  to  facts,  and  balances 
evidence,  and  keeps  the  mind  open  to  conviction,  than 
to  come  to  a  decision  under  the  influence  of  a  prejudi- 
cation of  the  case  on  the  ground  of  any  antecedent 
improbability. 

But,  unphilosophical  as  such  a  course  plainly  is,  it 
springs  directly  from  the  spirit  of  the  age.  The  hu- 
man mind,  in  its  constant  oscillations  between  the 
extremes  of  credulity  and  skepticism,  is  now  ranging 
somewhere  on  the  side  of  skepticism.  There  was  a 
time,  both  before  and  after  the  revival  of  letters,  when 
a  belief  in  frequent  supernatural  agency  was  common. 
But  when  many  things,  supposed  to  be  owing  to  su- 
pernatural influence,  were  referred,  by  the  light  of 
science,  to  natural  causes,  and  a  large  class  of  super- 
stitions was  thus  expelled,  then  men  passed  to  the 
other  extreme,  and  it  became  weak  and  superstitious 
to  believe  even  in  the  possibility  of  any  other  causes 
than  those  that  were  natural.  It  was  the  progress  of 
this  feeling  towards  the  utmost  limits  of  skepticism, 
that  was  called  by  many  the  progress  of  light  in  the 
world,  and  it  was  taken  advantage  of,  and  urged  on, 
by  skeptics,  in  every  possible  way.  But  a  general 
tendency  of  the  human  mind  is  never  altogether  decep- 


LECTURE    II.  43 

tive.  It  is  the  indication  of  some  great  trutli.  This  is 
so  with  the  tendency  of  man,  admitted  even  by  Hume, 
to  believe  in  supernatural  agency.  And  when  tlie  re- 
action is  over,  and  men  settle  down  in  the  light  of  a 
large  experience,  it  will  be  generally  conceded,  f  doubt 
not,  that,  while  the  general  course  of  nature  is  uniform, 
so  as  to  lay  a  foundation  for  experience,  and  give  it 
value,  there  is  also  something  in  the  system  to  meet 
our  tendency  to  believe  in  that  which  is  supernatural ; 
that  there  are  powers,  higher  than  those  of  nature,  con- 
nected with  the  natural  and  moral  administration  of 
the  universe,  that  may  interfere  for  the  welfare  of  man. 
But,  however  this  may  be  hereafter,  it  is  not  so 
now.  The  legitimate  force  of  the  evidence  for  Chris- 
tianity is  constantly  neutralized  by  assertions,  purely 
hypothetical,  of  the  improbability  of  the  facts.  Now, 
we  admit  of  no  such  improbability.  We  hold  that  no 
man  has  a  right  to  construct  a  metaphysical  balance 
in  which  he  shall  place  an  hypothesis  of  his  own  as  a 
counterpoise  for  one  particle  of  valid  evidence.  To  do 
it,  is  to  go  back  into  the  dark  ages.  It  is  to  apply, 
in  religion,  maxims  long  since  discarded  in  physics. 
It  is,  therefore,  out  of  a  regard  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
time,  and  not  because  I  think  it  essential  to  the  Chris- 
tian argument,  that  I  proceed  to  adduce  some  considera- 
tions to  show  the  antecedent  probability  of  a  revelation 
from  God. 

To  judge  of  the  probabihty  of  any  event,  we  must 
know  something  of  its  causes,  or  of  the  intentions  of 
the  agent  who  may  produce  it.  If  we  know  nothing 
of  these,  we  have  no  right  to  say,  of  any  event,  that  it 
is  probable  or  improbable.     If  we  know  all  the  causes 


44  LECTURE    II. 

that  are  at  work,  or  all  the  intentions  of  the  agents 
employed,  we  can  foretell  with  certahity  what  will 
take  place.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  an  event 
which  may  seem  highly  probable  to  one  man,  or,  per- 
haps, nearly  certain,  may  seem  to  another  altogether 
improbable.  So  sensible,  however,  are  most  persons 
of  their  ignorance  of  the  causes,  and  agents,  and  pur- 
poses, that  may  exist  in  this  complex  and  wonderful 
universe,  that  it  requires  but  a  slight  amount  of 
evidence  to  substantiate  events  of  which  we  should 
have  said,  beforehand,  that  the  chances  against  them 
were  as  a  million  to  one.  Especially  is  this  the  case 
when  the  actions  of  a  free  agent  are  concerned,  and 
when  we  are  but  slightly  acquainted  with  his  character 
and  purposes. 

But  this  is  precisely  the  case  before  us.  The  ques- 
tion is,  whether  it  was  probable,  beforehand,  that  God 
would  give  a  revelation  to  man.  Of  this  we  can  judge 
only  as  we  are  acquainted  with  the  character  of  God, 
and  the  emergency  requiring  his  special  interposition. 
That  he  could  give  such  a  revelation,  and  confirm  it 
by  miracles,  every  theist  must  admit ;  and  the  simple 
question  is  whether,  as  a  free  Agent  and  a  moral 
Governor,  (for  I  acknowledge  no  man  as  a  theist  who 
does  not  admit  these  two  characters  of  God,)  he  would 
think  it  best  to  give  a  revelation. 

I  know  it  is  said,  by  some,  that  this  is  ground  on 
which  we  ought  not  to  tread.  God,  they  say,  is  an 
infinite  Being,  and  the  complexity  of  his  plans,  and 
the  range  of  his  operations,  must  be  so  great  that  it 
would  be  presumption  in  creatures  like  us,  creatures  of 
a  day,  dwelling  in  this  remote  corner  of  the  universe, 
to  judge  what  would,  or  would  not,  be  probable  under 


LECTURE    II.  45 

his  government.  Far  better  miglit  the  little  child, 
yet  learning  its  alphabet,  Judge  of  the  probabilities 
respecting  the  purposes  and  actions  of  the  goveriniicnt 
of  these  United  States. 

That  this  is  sometimes  said  sincerely  I  am  not  dis- 
posed to  deny ;  but  there  is  often  connected  with  it  a 
fallacy  which  is  by  no  means  harmless.  Admit,  then, 
the  justice  of  it  all ;  and  what  will  follow  ?  An  argu- 
ment against  the  probability  of  a  revelation  ?  Certainly 
not.  It  will  simply  follow  that  we  cannot  tell  whether 
a  revelation  would  be  probable  or  improbable ;  and 
then  a  candid  man  will  judge  of  the  evidence  for  a 
revelation  just  as  he  would  of  that  for  any  other  event. 
And  this  is  all  we  desire.  Let  no  antecedent  improb- 
ability be  assumed,  and  we  are  willing  to  go  at  once 
to  the  evidence  and  the  facts. 

But  is  this  the  state  of  mind  of  those  who  speak  of 
man  as  thus  ignorant  ?  Is  it  their  object  to  produce 
such  a  state  of  mind  ?  I  think  not,  but  rather  to  bring 
doubt  and  uncertainty  over  the  whole  subject.  It  is 
assumed  that  we  are  ignorant  of  the  purposes  of  God, 
and  then,  from  that  ignorance,  the  improbability  of  a 
revelation  is  argued.  But  it  seems  to  be  forgotten 
that  we  need  previous  knowledge,  to  judge  of  the  im- 
probability, no  less  than  of  the  probability,  of  events ; 
and  while  these  persons  shrink  back  with  a  pious  hor- 
ror from  the  presumption  of  judging  what  God  might 
or  might  not  do,  they  covertly  assume  a  knowledge  of 
his  purposes,  or  at  least  of  what  he  probably  will  not 
do  in  a  given  case.  We  say,  that  whoever  affirms  it  is 
improbable  that  God  would  give  a  revelation,  assumes, 
in  proportion  to  his  confidence,  a  knowledge  of  the 
previous  plans  and  purposes  of  God  ;  and  then  we  ask 


46  LECTURE    II. 

him  where  he  obtamed  that  knowledge.  God  has  not 
told  him  so,  for  that  would  be  a  revelation.  He  cannot 
know  it  from  experience,  for  the  case  stands  bj  itself. 
We  have  no  experience  of  what  God  does  with  his 
creatures,  if  such  there  are,  similarly  situated  in  other 
worlds.  The  uniform  course  of  nature  can  be  no  ob- 
jection, for  the  very  question  at  issue  is,  whether  that 
course  shall  be  suspended.  It  is  admitted  that  God 
can  do  it  with  perfect  ease  ;  and  how  can  such  a  man 
know  that  the  exigencies  of  his  moral  government 
may  not  require  it  ? 

I  am,  however,  far  from  assenting  to  what  is  thus 

said  of  our  ignorance  on  this  subject.     If  we  use  the 

term  "  beforehand  "  in  the  strictest  and  highest  sense, 

perhaps  it  w^ould  be  presumption  in  us  to  judge  what 

God  would  do.     But,  in  all  our  arguments  respecting 

Christianity,  we  take  for  granted  the  great  truths  of 

natural  religion.     We  have  some  knowledge  of  God, 

and  of  his  providential  dealings  with  the  race ;  and  it 

is  not  presumption  in   us  to  say  whether  it  would  be 

in  accordance  with  that  character,   so   far  as  known, 

and  analogous  with  his  dealings  in  other  respects,  if 

he  should  give  to  man  a  revelation.     This  is  the  true 

,  question.     Is  there  any  thing  in  what  we  know  posi- 

[  tively  of  the  character  of  God,  in  connection  with  the 

[  condition  of  man,  that  would  render  it  probable  or  im- 

! probable  that  he  would  give  a  revelation? 

And  why  should  he  not  ?  I  know  not  why  it  should 
be  considered  so  strange  a  thing;  that  God  should 
make  a  revelation  to  man.  If  I  mistake  not,  it  would 
,  have  been  much  stranger  if  he  had  not.  It  may  be 
strange  that  he  should  have  created  the  world  at  all, 
or  put  such  a  being  as  man  upon  it ;  but  if  we  believe 


LECTURE   II.  47 

that  God  made  him  with  a  rational  and  a  religious 
nature  —  a  child  —  capable  of  communion  with  him, 
and  of  finding  in  him  only  the  highest  source  of  ha])pi- 
ness  and  means  of  moral  perfection,  —  then  it  would 
be  exceedingly  strange  if  God  should  not  reveal  him- 
self to  him.  Shall  not  a  father  speak  to  his  own  child  ? 
It  is  demonstrable,  on  the  principles  of  reason,  that^ 
if  man  had  continued  in  a  state  of  innocence,  the 
highest  progress,  and  expansion,  and  felicity  of  his 
nature  could  not  have  been  attained  except  by  com- 
munion with  God.  Man  becomes  assimilated  to  that 
ivitli  which  he  voluntarily  holds  communion.  And 
since  God  is  the  fountain  of  all  excellence,  why  should 
he  not  communicate  himself  to  an  innocent  creature 
whom  he  had  made  with  faculties  to  know,  and  love, 
and  enjoy  him  ?  In  the  original  and  highest  sense  of 
the  word,  a  state  of  nature  is  a  state  of  direct  intercoursej 
with  God.  Accordingly,  the  Bible,  instead  of  regard- 
ing it,  as  infidels  and,  I  must  say,  many  divines  do,  as 
a  strange  thins;  that  God  should  hold  communion  with 
men,  speaks  of  it  as  a  matter  of  course  ;  and  the  tra- 
ditions of  all  nations  have  connected  with  an  age  of 
innocence  the  frequent  intercourse  of  man  with  the 
gods.  There  is  nothing,  either  in  the  nature  of  the 
case  or  in  the  instincts  of  humanity,  to  give  rise  to 
that  strangeness  with  which  infidels  have  invested  a 
revelation  from  God ;  but  the  reverse.  It  is  strange 
that  man  is  at  all.  It  is  strange  that  God  is.  In  one 
sense,  every  thing  is  strange,  and  equally  so.  But  sup-; 
posing  God  to  be,  and  to  make  such  a  creature  as 
man,  it  is  not  strange  that  he  should  make  a  revelation 
to  him.  Indeed,  to  suppose  God  to  make  man  a  being 
capable  of  religion,  requiring  it  in  order  to  the  devel- 


48  LECTURE   II. 

opment  of  the  highest  part  of  his  nature,  and  then 
not  to  communicate  with  him,  as  a  father,  in  those 
revelations  which  alone  could  perfect  that  nature, 
would  be  a  reproach  upon  God,  and  a  contradiction. 

Nor,  even  in  a  state  of  innocence,  would  the  reve- 
lation of  God  in  his  works  have  been  sufficient,  since 
in  them  he  reveals  chiefly  his  natural  attributes,  and 
not  that  holiness  and  perfection  of  moral  character 
from  which  the  great  obligations,  and  interests,  and 
duties,  and  the  high  delights  of  his  service,  are  derived. 
Even  now  we  sometimes  find  a  man  groping  about 
this  rigid  framework  of  general  laws,  and  exclaiming, 
"  O  that  1  knew  where  I  might  find  him !  that  I 
might  come  even  to  his  seat !  "  and  how  much  less 
would  man  in  a  state  of  innocence  have  been  sat- 
isfied without  direct  communion  with  God !  The 
highest  and  most  natural  conception  of  the  universe 
is  that  which  makes  God  the  Father  of  his  rational 
and  spiritual  creatures,  which  constitutes  them  a  fam- 
ily, and  which  implies  communication  between  him 
and  them  as  personal  beings,  he  making  known  his 
will  and  character,  and  they  obeying  and  adoring 
him. 

If,  indeed,  an  innocent  being  should  sin,  we  could 
not  say  beforehand  what  w^ould  be  done.  We  should 
naturally  expect  that  justice  would  have  its  course. 
But,  looking  at  the  race  as  it  is,  evidently  favored  by 
God  to  some  extent,  visited  by  his  rain  and  sunshine 
and  by  fruitful  seasons,  we  should  have  as  much 
reason  to  think,  from  the  nature  and  position  of  man, 
that  there  would  be  such  a  thing  as  true  religion  on 
the  earth,  as  that  there  would  be  such  a  thing  as  true 
science  upon  the  earth.     For  that  man  has  a  moral 


LECTURE    II.  49 

and  a  reliirious  nature  is  as  evident  as  that  lie  has  an 
intellectual  nature.  Wherever  he  is  found  he  makes 
the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong,  and  worships 
some  superior  being.  If  there  have  been  a  few  who 
have  professed  themselves  atheists,  and  we  were  to 
give  them  that  credit  for  entire  sincerity,  which  many 
facts  would  lead  us  to  withhold,  this  would  no  more 
prove  that  man  has  not  a  religious  nature,  than  the 
iact  that  a  tew  men  have  overcome  tlie  social  instinct, 
and  withdrawn  from  society,  proves  that  he  has  not  a 
social  nature. 

Nor  are  these  principles,  which  thus  lead  man  to 
anticipate  future  retribution,  and  to  recognize  superior 
powers,  merely  secondary,  or  subordinate  to  others. 
They  are  peculiarly  those  by  which  man  is  distin- 
guished from  the  brute.  They  are  those,  as  shown  by 
all  history,  in  connection  with  the  cultivation  and  full 
development  of  which  all  the  other  powers  of  man 
reach  their  highest  perfection,  in  connection  with  the 
perversion  and  debasement  of  which  all  the  other 
powers  are  ill  regulated  and  dwarfed.  So  effec- 
tive, indeed,  has  the  influence  of  these  powers  been 
felt  to  be,  that  all  former  governments  have  sought 
their  aid,  and  have  endeavored  to  associate  the  power 
of  religion  with  that  of  the  temporal  arm.  It  has 
been  from  these  principles,  rather  than  from  any 
others,  that  motives  to  high  resolve,  and  long  endur- 
ance, and  voluntary  poverty,  and  a  martyr's  sufferings, 
have  been  drawn.  Remove  from  the  history  of  the 
past  all  those  actions  which  have  either  sprung  directly 
from  the  religious  nature  of  man,  or  been  modified  by 
it,  and  you  have  the  history  of  another  world  and 
of  another  race. 

7 


50  LECTURE    II. 

I  know  the  manifestations  of  this  principle  have 
been  exceedingly  various,  and  sometimes  as  whimsical 
and  debasing  as  can  well  be  conceived.  There  is  no 
absurdity  which  men  have  not  received,  no  austerity 
which  they  have  not  practised,  no  earthly  good,  and 
no  natural  affection,  which  they  have  not  sacrificed,  in 
the  name  of  religion ;  and  the  very  variety  and  ab- 
surdity of  religious  rites,  with  the  sincerity  of  men  in 
them  all,  has  been  made,  and  still  is,  a  capital  argu- 
ment of  infidels  to  show  that  there  is  nothing  in  any 
religion.  But  it  has  been  well  replied,  that  "  the  more 
strange  the  contradictions,  and  the  more  ludicrous  the 
ceremonies,  to  which  the  pride  of  human  reason  has 
been  reconciled,  the  stronger  is  our  evidence  that 
religion  has  a  foundation  in  the  nature  of  man."* 
Indeed,  no  fact  can  be  better  established,  both  by 
philosophy  and  by  history,  than  that  mankind  are  so 
constituted  that  they  must  have  some  religion.  Man 
has  a  religious  nature,  which  is  a  fundamental  and 
elementary  constituent  of  his  being.  This  nature  will 
manifest  itself.  Let  the  true  religion  be  removed,  and 
a  false  one  will  come  in  its  place.  This  is  a  truth,  the 
clear  perception  of  which  by  the  public  mind  I  deem 
of  great  importance ;  for  if  society  is  to  make  progress, 
it  must  be  by  cultivating  the  faculties  that  belong  to 
human  nature,  and  not  by  attempting  to  eradicate 
them  ;  and  hence  all  indiscriminate  attacks  upon  re- 
ligion, as  such,  must  retard  that  progress. 

Man,  then,  has  a  religious  nature  ;  and  what  purpose 
could  a  wise  and  good  Being  have,  in  sustaining  the 
race,  which  would  not  involve  the  right  exercise  of  this 

*  Stewart. 


LECTURE    II.  51 

nature,  in  view  of  its  ai)pio])riate  objects  ?  And  to 
suppose  tliat  God  has  furnished  man  with  no  such 
object  to  draw  that  nature  out,  is  like  supposing  that 
ne  would  create  the  eye  without  \i^A\t  or  the  ear 
without  sound,  or  that  he  would  place  man,  as  an 
intellectual  being,  in  a  world  of  such  disorder  that 
no  arrangement  or  classification,  and  consequently 
no  science,  would  be  possible.  The  whole  analogy 
of  God's  works,  and  of  his  dealings  with  men,  shows 
that,  if  man  has  a  religious  nature,  we  might  expect 
to  find  the  right  exercise  of  that  nature  possible, 
and  that  there  would  be  such  a  thing  as  true  religion 
in  the  world. 

But  if  a  rational  being,  capable  of  religion,  had  lost 
the  moral  image,  and  consequently  the  true  knowledge 
of  God,  and  it  should  be  the  object  of  God  to  restore 
him,  it  could  be  done  in  no  other  way  than  by  a  direct 
revelation.  This  is  obvious  from  two  reasons.  First, 
there  would  be  some  things  which  it  would  be  indis- 
pensable for  such  a  being  to  know,  and  which  he  could 
not  know  except  by  a  direct  communication.  They 
are  of  such  a  kind  that  nature  can  have  no  voice,  no 
utterance,  no  ichisper,  respecting  them.  Such  would  be 
an  answ^er  to  the  inquiry,  whether  God  would  pardon 
sin  at  all,  and,  if  so,  upon  what  conditions.  And^ 
secondly,  it  is  not  possible  that  a  sinful  being  should 
be  restored  to  God,  to  purity  and  love,  except  by  some 
manifestation  to  him  of  the  pjirity  and  love  of  God  such 
as  nature  does  not  give.  So  far  as  we  can  see,  there 
must  be  brought  into  operation  that  great  principle  of 
moral  assimilation  mentioned  by  the  apostle  when  he 
says,  "We  all,  beholding,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image,  from 


52  LECTURE    II. 

glory  to  glory."  If,  then,  it  was  probable  that  God 
would  do  any  thing  to  restore  a  race  of  transgress- 
ors to  himself,  it  was  in  the  same  degree  probable, 
that  he  would  give  a  revelation  different  from  any  tliat  \ 
nature  can  possibly  give.  So  far  as  we  can  see,  it  J 
would  be  impossible  for  him  to  do  it  in  any  other  way. 
And  what  we  might  thus  infer,  from  the  nature  of 
the  case,  is  amply  confirmed  by  an  appeal  to  facts. 
An  impartial  survey  of  the  condition  of  those  ]iortions 
of  the  earth  that  have  been  without  the  light  of  revela- 
tion shows  conclusively  that  the  reformation  of  man 
was  hopeless  without  it.  A  full  and  fair  experiment 
has  been  made.  It  has  extended  through  thousands 
of  years,  and  ample  time  has  been  given  to  test  every 
principle,  to  follow  out  every  tendency  to  its  results,  to 
call  forth  every  inherent  energy  of  man.  It  has  been 
made  in  every  climate,  under  every  form  of  govern- 
ment, in  all  circumstances  of  barbarism  and  refinement, 
bv  individuals  who,  for  intellectual  endowments,  have 
been  the  pride  of  the  race,  and  by  nations  who  have 
made  the  greatest  advancement  in  literature,  in  sci- 
ence, and  in  the  arts.  What  unassisted  man  has  done, 
therefore,  to  disperse  the  religious  darkness,  and  to 
remedy  the  moral  maladies  of  the  world,  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  fair  exemplification  of  what  he  would  do. 
To  show  that  the  race  has  been,  and  would  continue 
to  be,  hopelessly  benighted  and  degraded  without  a 
revelation,  has  been  the  chief  object  of  those  who  have 
attempted  to  show  its  probability.  This  they  have 
done  with  much  erudition  and  research,  and  this 
ground  is  so  familiar  that  I  shall  not  go  over  it  at 
large,  but  content  myself  with  a  brief  statement  of 
some  of  the  more  important  points. 


LECTURE    II.  53 

And,  first,  the  great  doctrine  of  the  divine  unity 
has  been  practically  lost  without  a  revelation.  Every 
where  the  mass  of  men  have  been  worshippers  of  nat- 
ural objects,  or  of  the  powers  of  nature  personified,  or 
of  idols,  or  of  deified  men;  and  if  a  few  philosophers 
have  seen  the  folly  of  this,  and  really  held  to  the  di- 
vine unity,  it  was  rather  to  ridicule  and  despise,  than 
to  benefit,  the  multitude.  It  does  not  appear,  how- 
ever, that  they  held  to  the  doctrine  except  as  a  matter 
of  speculation,  or  that  they  had  any  habit  of  worshij)- 
ping  the  one  infinite  God,  or  taught  that  he  ought  to 
be  worshipped.  What  must  have  been  the  practical 
blindness  and  uncertainty,  on  this  cardinal  point,  of 
that  philosopher  who,  among  his  last  requests,  could 
ask  a  friend  not  to  forget  to  sacrifice  a  cock  for  him  to 
Esculapius  ?  And  yet  this  did  Socrates.  What  must 
have  been  the  state  of  the  public  mind  among  the 
most  enlightened  people  on  earth,  and  in  the  Augus- 
tan age,  who  could  erect  a  statue  to  a  woman,  infa- 
mous for  her  profligacy,  with  the  following  inscription, 
makino-  her  no  less  a  deity  than  Providence  itself? 
"  The  Senate  of  the  Areopagus,  and  tlie  Senate  of 
the  Five  Hundred,  to  the  goddess  Julia  Augusta  Provi- 
dence !  " 

I  remark,  secondly,  that  the  heathen  nations  havA 
been  entirely  destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  God  as  a\ 
holy  God,  as  having  a  perfect  moral  character,  and  as 
exercising  a  moral  government,  the  principles  of  which 
reach  the  thoughts  of  the  heart.  Whether  there  were 
data  for  the  knowledge  of  this  in  nature,  perhaps  we 
need  not  decide ;  but,  without  this  knowledge  of  God, 
it  is  evident  there  can  be  no  pure  and  spiritual  religion. 
Generally,  the  moral  character  of  God  has  been  con- 


54  LECTURE  II. 

ceived  of  by  transferring  to  him  the  moral  cliaracter,  \ 
the  affections,  the  passions,  and  even  the  lusts,  of  men. 
No  religion  based  on  such  a  conception  of  the  object 
of  worship   can   benefit  man.     He  must  become   de- 
based under  its  influence. 

"  Unless  above  himself  he  can 
Erect  himself,  how  mean  a  thing  is  man ! " 

But,  thirdly,  this  ignorance  of  the  moral  character  of 
God  has  led,  as  it  naturally  must,  to  the  introduction 
of  forms  of  worship  that  cannot  be  acceptable  to  him, 
and  to  that  separation  of  religion  from  morality  which 
has  been  so  universal,  and,  in  most  instances,  so  entire, 
among  heathen  nations.  What  Bishop  Heber  said  of 
the  Hindoos  may,  with  some  modifications,  be  said  of 
all  heathen  nations  :  "  The  good  qualities  that  are 
among  them  are  in  no  instance,  that  I  am  aware  of, 
connected  with,  or  arising  out  of,  their  religion,  since 
it  is  in  no  instance  to  good  deeds,  or  virtuous  habits  of 
life,  that  the  future  rewards  in  which  they  believe  are 
proposed.  Accordingly,"  he  says,  "  I  really  have  never 
met  with  a  race  of  men  whose  standard  of  morality  is 
so  low  —  who  feel  so  little  apparent  shame  in  being 
detected  in  a  falsehood,  or  so  little  interest  in  the  suf- 
ferings of  a  neighbor  not  being  of  their  own  caste  or 
family,  —  whose  ordinary  and  familiar  conversation  is 
so  licentious,  or,  in  the  wilder  and  more  lawless  dis- 
tricts, who  shed  blood  with  so  little  reiDugnance." 
The  tendency  to  this  separation  of  religion  and  morals 
is  strong  every  where,  and  nothing  can  be  more  de- 
structive both  of  true  religion  and  of  morality,  or  more 
fatal  to  every  interest  of  man.  Let  men  think  to  please 
God  by  gifts,  by  forms,  by  bodily  sufferings,  without 
regard  to  justice,  and  benevolence,  and  purity,  and  all 


LECTURE   II.  55 

the  foundations  of  individual  happiness  and  social 
order  must  be  out  of  course.  And  how  much  more 
must  this  be  the  case,  when  the  character  of  the  object 
worshipped  is  such  as  to  excite  and  to  encourage  every 
form  of  iniquity,  and  when,  as  is  often  the  case, 
unnatural  cruelty,  and  drunkenness,  and  obseenit}^,  in- 
stead of  being  forbidden,  become  a  part  of  the  religious 
rites  !  "  When  the  light  that  is  in  men  becomes  dark- 
ness, how  great  is  that  darkness  !  "  This  is  a  point 
of  the  greatest  moment,  since  no  false  religion  ever 
did,  or  ever  can,  teach,  and  adequately  sanction,  any 
thing  like  a  perfect  system  of  morality,  and  since  mo- 
rality, unsustained  by  religion,  can  never  furnish  an 
adequate  basis  of  either  individual  or  general  progress. 

I  remark,  fourthly,  that,  without  revelation,  men  have\ 
had  very  obscure  and  doubtful  notions  respecting  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  and,  so  far  as  this  fundamental 
doctrine  has  been  received,  it  has  been  made  use  of 
rather  to  control  men  in  their  conduct  here,  than  to  fit 
them  for  another  state.  A  great  part  of  the  philoso- 
phers regarded  ""this  belief  as  a  vulgar  prejudice,  and 
those  who  received  it  held  it  as  doubtful.  Even  Cicero, 
who  had  carefully  studied  the  arguments  of  Socrates, 
and  added  others  of  his  own,  says,  ^'  Which  of  these  is 
true  God  alone  knows,  and  which  is  most  probable  a 
very  great  question."  And  very  many,  too,  who  held 
the  doctrine,  held  it  in  such  connection  as  to  destroy 
its  practical  influence  for  good.  Some  held  it  in  con- 
nection with  the  doctrine  of  fate  or  necessity ;  some, 
as  Plato,  in  connection  with  the  doctrine  of  the  trans- 
migration of  souls  ;  and  some,  like  the  present  Hindoos 
just  noticed,  severed  all  connection  between  the  moral 
character  here  and  the  state  of  the  soul  hereafter.     As 


56  LECTURE   II. 

a  practical  doctrine,  therefore,  "life  and  immortality 
were  brought  to  light  by  the  gospel."  This  alone  has 
revealed  it,  with  such  authority  and  certainty,  and  in 
such  connections,  as  to  give  it  all  its  efficiency  as  a 
motive  of  action.  Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  or 
philosophical  than  the  manner  in  which  Christianity 
extends  the  same  moral  laws  and  fundamental  con- 
ditions of  happiness  over  the  present  and  the  future 
life,  so  that  the  life  of  heaven  is  made  to  be  nothing 
but  the  brightening  and  expansion  of  the  life  that  is 
commenced  here.  In  this  respect,  the  coming  in  of 
Christianity  was  like  the  coming  in  of  the  Newtonian 
system ;  for  as  that  shows,  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  ancients,  that  the  same  laws  apply  to  things  earth- 
ly and  to  things  heavenly,  to  the  floating  particle  of 
dust  and  to  the  planet  in  its  orbit,  so  Christianity  in- 
troduces unity  and  simplicity  into  the  moral  system, 
and  shows  that  the  humblest  child,  that  is  a  moral 
agent,  and  the  highest  archangel,  are  subject  to  the 
same  moral  law. 

In  these  four  points,  —  the  unity  of  God,  his  moral 
character,  the  kind  of  worship  that  would  be  accepta- 
ble to  him,  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  —  it  may  be 
thought  that  the  materials  of  knowledge  were  within 
the  reach  of  man.  But  if  this  is  true  for  any,  it  is  not 
for  the  mass  of  men.  The  elements  of  the  highest 
mathematical  truths  are  within  the  reach  of  all,  and 
those  truths  may  be  said  to  be  discoverable ;  but  we 
have  no  reason  to  think  they  ever  would  or  could  have 
been  discovered  by  the  great  mass  of  men. 

But  there  is,  as  already  suggested,  another  class  of 
truths,  some  of  them  fundamental  and  indispensable  to 
be  known,  which,  are  not,  and  could  not,  be  suggested 


LECTURE   II.  57 

by  nature.  Such,  particuhuiy,  first,  is  the  truth  that 
God  can  pardon  sin  on  any  terms.  If  there  is  any  one 
fundamental  doctrine  of  natural  religion,  it  is,  that  God 
is  just.  This  was  so  strongly  felt  by  Socrates  that  he 
doubted  whetiier  God  could  pardon  sin.  To  a  sinner, 
as  man  is,  it  was  indispensable  that  this  fact  should  be 
known  before  any  rational  system  of  religion  could  be 
framed,  and,  though  some  things  in  nature  might  lead 
to  the  hope  that  a  remedy  would  be  found  for  moral 
evil,  as  for  so  many  others,  yet  these  are  too  obscure 
to  produce  any  practical  results,  and  there  seems 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  general  conviction 
that  has  prevailed  on  this  subject  has  originated  in 
revelation. 

But,  secondly,  if  we  were  assured  that  God  would 
pardon  sin,  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  know  on 
what  conditions.  Nothing  can  be  more  contrary  to  the 
history  of  all  the  past,  than  what  is  asserted  by  some 
modern  deists,  especially  by  Lord  Herbert,  that  it  is  a 
dictate  of  natural  reason  that  God  will  pardon  sin  on 
repentance.  If  it  had  been  asserted  that  it  is  a  dictate 
of  natural  reason  that  penance,  and  costly  sacrifices, 
and  self-torture,  were  the  conditions  of  pardon,  there 
would  have  been  much  in  history  to  support  it.  But 
the  deist  may  be  challenged  to  show  any  heathen 
creed  in  which  this  was  an  article,  or  to  bring  forward 
any  devotee  of  any  other  religion  than  the  Christian, 
who  holds  to  that  doctrine  now^  Having  the  light  of 
the  Bible,  we  see  distinctly  that  God  cannot  properly 
pardon  the  guilty  without  repentance  as  a  condition, 
meaning  by  re))entance  a  thorough  reformation,  not 
only  of  the  life,  but  of  the  principles  of  conduct,  —  of 
the   motives   and   secret  feelings   of  the    heart.     But 


58  LECTURE  II. 

who  ever  heard  of  such  a  repentance  as  this,  as  an  ar- 
ticle m  the  creed  of  oilier  religions  ?  And  who,  I  may 
ask,  ever  heard  of  a  deist  as  exercising  such  a  repent- 
ance and  continuing  a  deist  ?  Instances  are  adduced, 
under  other  systems,  of  great  natural  goodness,  in 
which  it  is  supposed  that  no  repentance  was  needed ; 
but  I  know  of  none  in  which  it  has  been  supposed 
that  a  really  vicious  and  abandoned  man  has  repented 
in  the  high  and  only  true  sense  of  that  term,  except  in 
connection  with  the  motives  of  the  gospel.  Repent- 
ance, even  as  a  condition  of  pardon,  is  peculiar  to  the 
gospel  system  ;  and  as  an  historical  fact,  it  is  produced 
only  by  gospel  motives.  The  truth  is,  deists  have 
borrowed  this  partial  truth  from  the  Bible,  and  then 
used  it  to  show  that  we  do  not  need  the  very  book 
from  which  they  borrowed  it.  The  question  of  the 
method  or  possibility  of  pardon,  b}'  a  perfectly  just 
God,  involves  the  highest  problem  of  moral  govern- 
ment ;  and  there  is  no  analogy  of  the  operation  of 
human  laws,  and  certainlv  nothino;  which  we  see  of 
the  inflexibility  and  severity  with  which  the  natural 
laws  of  God  are  administered,  which  could  lead  us  to 
believe  in  the  efficacy  of  repentance  alone  for  the  par- 
don of  moral  transgressions. 

And,  thirdly,  if  man  should  endeavor  to  reclaim  him- 
self from  the  dominion  of  vice,  he  cannot  know  whether 
God  will  regard  him  with  favor,  and  will  assist  him,  or 
whether  he  shall  be  left  to  struggle  with  the  current 
by  his  own  unassisted  efforts.  Grace,  favor,  the  great 
doctrine  of  divine  aid  to  the  sinful  and  the  tempted, 
so  sustaining  to  the  weakness,  and  so  consohng  to  the 
wretchedness,  of  man,  coming  directly  from  God  as  a 
personal  Being,  it  was  impossible   that  nature   should 


LECTURE    J  I.  59 

give  any  intimcatioa  of  it.  It  is  God's  own  Iiand 
stretched  out  to  guide  and  sustain  his  benighted  and 
feeble  creatures. 

Again,  without  revehition  man  could  know  nothing 
of  the  origin  or  end  of  the  present  state  of  things. 
Nearly  all  the  ancient  philosophers  believed  that  mat- 
ter was  eternal ;  but  of  its  forms,  as  indicating  intelli- 
gence, and  of  the  races  of  animals  and  of  man,  they 
could  give  no  satisfactory  account.  And  it  is  obvious, 
that  a  course  of  nature  established,  if  it  is  ever  to  ter- 
minate, can,  of  itself,  give  no  indication  of  that  ter- 
mination, either  in  respect  to  time  or  mode.  Such 
knowledge  would  be  highly  satisfactory  to  man,  and 
w^ould  alone  enable  him  to  direct  his  course  in  accord- 
ance with  the  purposes  of  God. 

Now,  when  we  consider  the  passions  of  men,  the 
collisions  of  interest,  the  obtrusiveness  of  the  objects  of 
sense,  the  pressure  of  animal  wants,  the  vices  of  so- 
ciety, and  the  shortness  of  life,  who  can  believe,  with 
this  obscurity  hanging  over  some  points,  and  this 
total  darkness  resting  upon  others,  that  one  in  a  mil- 
lion would  sit  down  calmly  to  solve  these  great  ques- 
tions respecting  God  and  his  government,  and  human 
destiny  ?  Who  can  believe  that  any  speculative  and 
problematical  solution  of  one  or  all  of  them  could  in- 
troduce a  religion  that  would  effectually  control  the 
passions,  and  predominate  over  the  senses,  of  men  ? 
No;  it  is  exceedingly  clear  that,  if  any  thing  was  to 
be  done  to  enlighten  man,  it  must  be  by  a  voice  from 
heaven  —  a  voice  that  should  speak  with  "  authority, 
and  not  as  the  scribes." 

Andif  mankind  were  thus  benighted  w^ithout  revela- 
tion, it  will  follow,  of  course,  that  they  wxre  degraded. 


60  LECTURE    II. 

Moral  darkness,  voluntarily  incurred,  necessarily  in- 
volves practical  wickedness.  Without  an  authoritative 
standard  of  morals,  like  the  law  of  God,  Avithout  a 
general  system  of  moral  instruction,  without  the  mo- 
tives drawn  from  the  moral  government  of  God  and  a 
future  retribution,  with  a  religion  whose  doctrines  and 
rites  were  often  at  war  with  the  dictates  of  the  moral 
nature,  we  cannot  wonder  at  the  tendency  to  deterio- 
ration that  was  every  where  manifest,  nor  at  the 
general  prevalence  of  falsehood,  and  cruelty,  and 
nameless  licentiousness.  If  some  public  and  social 
virtues  were  cultivated,  it  was  chiefly  during  certain 
periods  of  the  rise  of  states,  in  the  earlier  and  less 
corrupt  stages  of  society,  and  never  in  connection  with 
the  worship  of  a  spiritual  and  holy  God,  or  with  the 
cultivation  of  purity  of  heart  and  of  life.  Philosophy 
enabled  its  votaries  rather  to  see  and  discourse  about 
difficulties  than  to  remove  them.  It  did  not  even  re- 
form the  lives  of  the  philosophers  themselves,  and  made 
no  attempts  either  to  instruct  or  reform  the  mass  of 
the  people.  Quintilian  says  of  the  philosophers  of  his 
time,  "  The  most  notorious  vices  are  screened  under 
that  name ;  and  they  do  not  labor  to  maintain  the 
character  of  philosophers  by  virtue  and  study,  but  con- 
ceal the  most  vicious  lives  under  an  austere  look  and 
a  singularity  of  dress."  And  when  this  could  be  said 
of  the  philosophers,  we  might  believe,  of  the  mass  of 
the  people,  on  less  authority  than  that  of  inspiration, 
that  they  were  "  filled  with  all  unrighteousness,  forni- 
cation, wickedness,  covetousness,  maliciousness ;  full 
of  envy,  murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity  ;  whisperers, 
backbiters,  haters  of  God,  despiteful,  proud,  boasters, 
inventors  of  evil  things,  disobedient  to  parents,  without 


LECTURE    II.  61 

understanding,  covenant-breakers,  without  natural  af- 
fection, implacable,  unmerciful."* 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  case,  the  most  melancholy 
of  which  we  can  conceive,  in  which  the  noblest  facul- 
ties of  a  creature  of  God,  those  through  which  his 
highest  perfection  and  happiness  should  be  attained, 
have  become  the  means  of  sinking  him  into  the  lowest 
forms  of  immorality,  and  of  filthy,  and  cruel,  and 
costly,  and  hideous  superstition.  The  true  God,  the 
only  object  corresponding  to  the  religious  nature  of 
man,  being  withdrawn,  the  facuhics  of  man  are  not 
annihilated;  he  cannot  throw  off  his  nature;  he  must 
have  some  religion ;  and  superstition,  and  enthusiasm, 
and  fanaticism  come  in,  and  every  form  of  iniquity  is 
perpetrated  in  the  name  of  God,  and  the  religious 
nature  is  used  as  an  engine  to  crush  human  liberty 
and  rivet  the  bonds  of  oppression.  There  is  nothing 
that  can  adequately  represent  this  dreadful  mental  and 
moral  perversion  but  those  forms  of  bodily  disease  in 
which  the  processes  of  life,  that  ought  to  build  up  a 
beautiful  and  perfect  body,  go  on  only  to  stimulate  the 
activity  of  the  fatal  leprosy,  only  to  minister  to  de- 
formity, and  make  it  more  hideous.  Here,  then,  the 
question  is  brought  to  an  issue.  In  such  a  state  of 
things,  when  it  is  obvious  that  nothing  but  a  voice  from 
heaven  can  bring  deliverance,  will  that  voice  be 
uttered  ?  Surely,  if  a  case  can  occur  in  which,  from 
the  benevolence  of  God,  we  might  hope  for  a  special 
interposition,  this  is  that  case.  On  the  question  of 
such  an  interposition  hung  the  destiny  of  the  race ; 
and  to  one  who  could  bring  his  mind  to  the  high  con- 

*  Rom.  i.  29—31. 


62  LECTURE    II. 

ception  of  the  possibility  of  mercy  in  God,  it  could  not 
appear  improbable  that  that  interposition  would  be 
vouchsafed. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  appears  that,  if  we 
regard  man  as  in  a  state  of  innocence,  we  should  nat- 
urally expect  God  would  hold  communications  with 
him ;  that,  if  we  regard  him  as  guilty,  and  having  lost 
the  knowledge  and  moral  image  of  God,  such  a  com- 
munication would  be  absolutely  necessary,  if  man  was 
to  be  restored.  We  have,  therefore,  the  same  ante- 
cedent probability  of  a  revelation  as  we  have  that  God 
would  interpose  at  all  in  behalf  of  the  guilty,  or  that 
there  would  be  any  true  religion  upon  earth.  This 
probability,  moreover,  is  strengthened  by  the  general 
expectation  of  the  race,  shown  by  the  readiness  with 
which  they  have  received  accounts  of  supposed  revela- 
tions, and  by  the  natural  tendency  of  man  to  crave  aid 
directly  from  God. 

But,  whatever  probability  there  was  that  there  would 
be  a  revelation,  the  same  was  there  that  there  would 
be  miracles  ;  because  miracles,  so  far  as  we  can  see, 
are  the  only  means  by  which  it  would  be  possible  for 
God  to  authenticate  a  communication  to  man.  It  is 
true,  he  might  make  a  special  revelation  to  each  indi- 
vidual, and  certify  him  that  it  was  a  revelation,  but  that 
would  not  be  analogous  to  his  mode  of  proceeding  in 
other  things ;  and  if  his  purpose  was  to  make  known 
his  will  to  certain  individuals,  to  be  by  them  communi- 
cated to  the  rest  of  the  race,  it  would  seem  impossible 
that  they  should  exhibit  any  other  seal  of  their  com- 
mission than  miracles.  This  is  the  simple,  natural, 
majestic  seal  which  we  should  expect  God  would  affix 
to  a  communication  from  himself;  and  when  this  seal 


LECTURE   II.  63 

is  presented  by  men  whose  lives  and  works  correspond 
with  what  we  niight  expect  from  messengers  of  God, 
it  is  felt  to  be  decisive. 

But  though  miracles  are  thus  just  as  probable  as 
a  revelation,  even  though  we  should  not  choose  to 
say  that  revelation  itself  is  a  miracle,  and  though  the 
chief  object  of  them  is  to  give  authority  to  a  reve- 
lation, yet,  as  the  chief  objections  against  revelation 
are  made  against  it  as  miraculous,  I  wish  to  adduce 
here  an  additional  consideration  or  two  to  show  the 
probability  that  miracles  would  occur  in  a  system 
like   ours. 

The  first  consideration  will  be  found  in  the  effect 
miracles  would  have  in  producing  a  conviction  of  the 
being  of  a  personal  God.  This  is  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance. Let  us  suppose  there  had  been  no  miracle, 
nor  any  supposition  of  one,  as  far  back  as  history 
goes ;  that  the  uniform  course  of  nature  had  moved 
on  without  any  supposed  intervention  of  a  superior 
personal  Power ;  that,  in  the  language  of  the  scoffer, 
all  things  had  continued  as  they  were  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  creation  ;  that  no  flood  had  swept  the 
earth,  and  no  law  had  been  given  in  the  midst  of 
thunderings  and  earthquakes,  and  no  messenger  from 
above,  whose  form  was  "like  the  Son  of  God,"  had 
walked  with  good  men  in  the  fire,  and  no  other  in- 
dications of  a  righteous  administration  and  of  future 
retribution  had  appeared  than  are  connected  with 
those  unswerving  laws  that  bring  all  things  alike  to 
all,  —  and  who  can  estimate  the  tendency  to  practical, 
if  not  to  speculative  atheism,  of  such  a  state  of  things  ? 
It  may  even  be  questioned  whether  the  common  argu- 
ment from  contrivance,  for  the  being  of  a  personal  God, 


64  LECTURE  II. 

when  that  stands  alone,  and  is  connected  with  such  a 
uniform  course  of  things,  would  be  valid.  If  this  rigid 
order  could  once  be  infringed  for  a  good  and  manifest 
reason,  it  would  obviously  change  the  whole  face  of 
the  argument.  Could  we  once  see  gravitation  sus- 
pended when  the  good  man  is  thrown  by  his  persecu- 
tors from  the  top  of  the  rock,  —  could  we  see  a  char- 
iot and  horses  of  fire  descend  and  deliver  the  righteous 
from  the  universal  law  of  death,  —  could  ^we  see  the 
sun  stand  still  in  heaven  that  the  wicked  might  be 
overthrown,  —  then  should  we  be  assured  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  personal  Power,  with  a  distinct  will,  whose 
agents  and  ministers  these  laws  were.  Such  attesta- 
tions of  his  being  we  might  expect  God  would  give, 
not  merely  to  confirm  a  particular  revelation,  but  with 
reference  to  this  feeling  of  indefiniteness,  of  generality, 
of  a  want  of  personality  in  the  supreme  Power,  which 
the  operation  of  general  laws,  necessarily  confounding 
all  moral  distinctions,  has  a  tendency  to  produce. 

The  second  collateral  effect  of  miracles  which  1 
would  adduce  is,  that  they  show  that  the  laws  of  na- 
ture are  subordinate  to  the  higher  laws  of  God's  moral 
kingdom,  and  are  controlled  and  suspended  with  ref- 
erence to  that.  This  supposes,  of  course,  that  the 
miracles  are  neither  capricious  nor  frivolous,  but  arc 
so  wrought  as  to  show  this  truth.  The  man,  who  has 
not  yet  seen  that  the  moral  government  of  God  is  that 
with  reference  to  which  the  universe  is  constructed 
and  sustained,  is  as  far  from  the  true  system  of  God's 
administration  as  he  would  be  from  the  true  system  of 
astronomy  who  should  place  the  earth  in  the  centre. 
This  sentiment  is  involved  in  those  extraordinary 
words  of  Christ,  "  It  is  easier  for  heaven  and  earth  to 


LECTURE    II.  65 

pass,  than  one  tittle  of  the  hiw  to  fail,"  and  might, 
indeed,  be  inferred  from  the  nature  of  the  case.  What 
man  of  honor  regards  property  at  all,  when  his  moral 
character  is  concerned  ?  What  wise  man  does  not 
sacrifice  property  for  the  true  good  of  rational  and  in- 
telligent beings  ?  So,  if  God  has  a  moral  character, 
and  a  moral  government,  then  what  we  call  nature 
and  its  laws,  must  hold  the  same  relation  to  him  that 
property  does  to  the  moral  character  of  man.  The 
power  and  wisdom  of  God  may  be  seen  in  nature  ;  but 
his  justice,  and  truth,  and  mercy,  in  which  his  highest 
glory  consists,  can  be  seen  only  in  his  dealings  with 
his  moral  creatures.  If  a  law  of  nature  were  de- 
stroyed, it  could  be  reestablished ;  if  a  system  of  suns 
and  planets  were  annihilated,  another  might  be  pro- 
duced in  its  room  ;  if  heaven  and  earth  were  to  pass 
away,  they  might  be  created  again  ;  but  if  the  bright- 
ness of  the  moral  character  of  God  should  be  tarnished, 
that  character  would  be  lost  forever.  This  distinction 
between  mere  nature  and  moral  government  is  funda- 
mental ;  and  nothing  could  have  a  greater  tendency 
to  wake  men  up  to  a  perception  of  it  than  to  see 
God,  as  he  moves  on  to  the  accomplishment  of  his 
moral  purposes,  setting  aside  those  laws  of  nature 
which  we  had  supposed  were  established  like  the 
everlastins:  hills  —  than  to  see  the  whole  of  visible  na- 
ture,  with  all  its  laws,  standing  ready  to  pay  its  obei- 
sance to  the  true  ambassadors  of  his  moral  kingdom. 
How  else  could  God  express  to  us  the  true  relations 
to  each  other  of  his  natural  and  moral  government  ? 
If,  then,  miracles  were  necessary  to  give  authority 
to  revelation,  to  give  a  practical  impression  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  personal   God,  and  to  indicate  the  true 


66  LECTURE   II. 

position  of  his  moral  government,  who  will  say,  on  the 
supposition  that  he  has  a  moral  government,  that  they 
are  improbable  ? 

There  has,  indeed,  been  a  question  raised,  —  and  it 
is  one  of  so  much  importance  that  it  may  be  well  to 
notice  it  here,  —  how  far  we  are  bound  to  receive  any 
doctrine  or  command  that  may  be  confirmed  by  a 
miracle.  But  this  depends  on  the  further  question, 
whether  a  miracle  can  be  wrought  by  any  being  but 
God.  If  God,  and  God  only,  can  work  a  miracle, 
then  we  are  bound,  both  by  reason  and  conscience,  to 
believe  and  to  do  every  thing  taught  or  commanded 
with  that  sanction.  When  God  told  Abraham  to  sac- 
rifice his  son  Isaac,  he  was  to  do  it  though  it  might 
seem  to  contradict  the  dictates  of  natural  affectior, 
and  what,  without  the  command,  would  have  been 
the  dictates  of  conscience,  and  to  be  in  direct  opposi- 
tion to  the  promises  of  God  himself;  and  in  doing  it 
he  honored  God,  and  acted  in  accordance  with  the 
dictates  of  natural  religion,  and  of  the  reason  that  God 
had  given  him.  Not  to  believe  and  obey  the  direct 
word  of  God,  whatever  impressions  and  feelings  it 
may  oppose,  or  whatever  contradictions  it  may  seem 
to  involve,  w^ould  lead  at  once  to  absurdity  and  con- 
tradiction. It  would  involve  the  charge  of  falsehood 
and  tyranny  against  God.  But  the  moment  you 
charge  God  with  falsehood,  there  is  an  end  to  all 
ground  of  fluth  in  any  tiling.  If  I  cannot  believe  God, 
I  cannot  believe  the  faculties  that  come  from  God. 
By  charging  Him  wiio  gave  me  my  moral  nature  with 
being  false,  I  involve  the  probability  that  all  the  no- 
tices and  indications  of  that  nature  are  false,  and  all 
its  distinctions  baseless.  Nothing  could  then  save  me 
from  universal  skepticism.     Certainly  natural  religion, 


f 


LECTURE   II.  67 

and  reason  itself,  if  it  ^^ould  not  lose  from  under  it  the 
very  ground  on  which  it  stands,  \vould  lead  me  to  this. 
When  God  speaks,  it  is  sufficient.  His  reason  is  the 
infinite  reason,  his  authority  is  absolute  authority,  and 
nothing  more  dreadful,  or  more  opposed  to  our  most 
intimate  convictions,  could  possibly  occur  than  would 
be  involved  in  disbelieving  and  disobeying  him.  Nor 
can  I  doubt  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  God  so  to  au- 
thenticate his  word  to  the  soul  of  man  as  thus  to  set 
it  in  opposition  to  the  utterances  and  promptings  of 
every  natural  faculty  ;  nor  that  it  is  only,  as  in  the 
case  of  Abraham,  when  such  an  opposition  occurs,  that 
the  most  implicit  confidence  in  God,  and  the  highest 
grandeur  of  faith,  can  be  seen. 

If,  then,  we  suppose  that  God  only  can  perform  a 
miracle,  its  authority  will  be  absolute.  But  may  there 
not  be  a  suspension  or  a  reversal  of  the  laws  of  nature 
caused  by  other  beings  than  God  ?  May  not  some 
malignant  agent  do  that  which,  if  it  is  not,  must  ap- 
pear to  us  to  be  a  real  miracle  ?  This  is  a  question 
which  I  cannot  answer.  It  may  be  so.  I  know  not 
what  intermediate  powers  and  agencies  there  may  be 
between  the  infinite  God  and  man.  I  know  not  but 
there  may  be  created  beings  of  such  might  that  one  of 
them  might  seize  upon  the  earth,  and  hurl  it  from  its 
orbit,  or  control  its  elements  ;  nor  do  I  know  what 
range  God  may  give  to  the  agency  of  such,  or  of  any 
other  intermediate  beings.  I  do  not  myself  believe 
that  any  being  but  God  can  work  a  real  miracle. 
Miracles  are  his  great  seal.  This  may  be  counter- 
feited ;  but  if  he  should  suffer  it  to  be  stolen,  I  see  no 
possible  way  in  which  he  could  authenticate  a  com- 
munication to  his  creatures.     A  real  miracle  is  to  be 


68  LECTURE   II. 

distinguished  from  those  feats  and  appearances  which 
may  be  produced  by  sleight  of  hand,  and  by  collusion 
when   once   a  religion  is  established  ;   and   also  from 
any  effects  of  merely  natural  agents,  however  occult, 
under  the  control  of  science,  but  working  according 
to  their  own  laws.     These,  especially  if  science  and 
deception   are   combined,   and   in   an  age   of   popular 
ignorance,  may  go  very  far  ;    probably  far  enough   to 
account  for  every  thing  in  the  Bible,  seemingly  mirac- 
ulous, which  we  should  not  be  willing  to  attribute  to 
God.     They  may  account  for  appearances  and  coin- 
cidences which,  to  the   ignorant,   must  have   seemed 
like  miracles,  and  for  extraordinary  cures  of  a  certain 
class,  while  the  principle  of  life  remained  ;   but  they 
cannot  account  for  a  reversal  of  a  law  of  nature,  as 
when  an  axe  is  made  to  swim,  or  the  shadow  to  go 
back  on  the  dial ;  nor  for  an  operation  where  the  pow- 
ers of  nature  have  nothing  to  work  upon,  as  when  one 
really  dead  is  raised  to  life.     However,  something  like 
that  of  which  I  have  spoken  above  is  implied  in   the 
Bible,  and   provision   is  made  for  the   state  of   mind 
which   it  must  induce.     This   speaks   of  "  signs   and 
lying  wonders."     It  was  said  to  the  Israehtes  of  old, 
"  If  there  arise  among  you  a  prophet,  or  a  dreamer  of 
dreams,  and  giveth  thee  a  sign  or  a  wonder,  and  the 
sign   or  the  wonder  come  to  pass,  whereof  he  spake 
unto  thee,  saying.  Let  us  go  after  other  gods,  which 
thou   hast  not  known,   and  let  us  serve  them ;   thou 
shalt  not  hearken  unto  the  words  of  that  prophet,  or 
that   dreamer   of  dreams ;    for    the    Lord   your    God 
proveth  you,  to  know  whether  ye  love  the   Lord  your 
God  with  all  your  heart  and  with  all  your  soul." 

I  would  say,  then,  that  an   apparent  miracle,   per- 


LECTURE    II.  G9 

formed  by  a  creature  of  God,  would  not  authorize  me 
to  receive  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  contradictory  to 
my  natural  faculties ;  and  the  voice  of  God  himself 
would  lay  me  under  obligation  to  do  this  simply  be- 
cause the  highest  reason  demands  faith  in  him  as  the 
only  ground  of  faith  in  any  thing  else.  It  is,  indeed, 
a  contradiction  to  say  that  a  man  can  believe  what  he 
knows  to  be  absurdity,  or  can  be  under  obligation  to 
do  what  is  wrong  ;  and,  in  general,  I  would  say  that 
no  man  is  under  obligation  to  believe  what  it  is  not 
more  reasonable  for  him  to  believe  than  to  disbelieve  ; 
but  it  may  be  reasonable  to  believe,  on  the  authority  of 
God,  that  that  is  not  an  absurdity  which  might  other- 
wise seem  to  be  so,  and  that  the  command  of  God 
would  make  certain  actions  right  for  us,  which  would 
otherwise  not  be  so.  If  God  should  wish  to  make 
a  communication  to  an  individual  that  would  seem  in 
opposition  to  the  dictates  of  his  natural  faculties,  we 
might  expect  that  he  would,-  as  in  the  case  of  Abra- 
ham, speak  himself,  and  cause  it  to  be  known  that  the 
voice  was  certainly  his  ;  but  when  a  creature  of  God 
appears  as  his  messenger,  then  his  character  and  the 
object  of  his  mission  must  correspond  with  what  we 
have  a  right  to  expect  of  a  messenger  from  God ;  and 
no  prodigy,  no  apparent  miracle,  ought  to  be  received 
as  a  sufficient  sanction  for  that  which,  without  such 
sanction,  would  appear  to  be  either  absurd  or  vicious. 

But,  however  we  may  decide  this  question  on  the  sup- 
position of  a  conflict  between  the  message  confirmed 
by  a  miracle,  and  the  intellectual,  or  the  moral  nature 
of  man,  there  is  no  practical  difficulty  on  this  point, 
when  we  speak  of  the  Christian  miracles.  These  are 
all  worthy  of  God.     They  were  wrought  by  men  of 


70  LECTURE    II. 

pure  and  benevolent  lives,  and  for  the  avowed  purpose 
of  confirming  a  message  of  the  highest  importance  to 
man,  and  in  entire  conformity  to  his  nature.  And 
such  miracles,  wrought  by  such  men,  are,  as  I  have 
said,  the  seal  which  we  should  naturally  expect  God 
would  affix  to  their  message.  They  are  an  adequate 
seal,  and  every  fair-minded  man  responds  to  the  senti- 
ment uttered  by  Nicodemus,  "  No  man  can  do  these 
miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him." 

I  will  simply  say,  in  closing  this  lecture,  that  what- 
ever probability  there  is  that  God  has  given  a  revela- 
tion at  all,  there  is  the  same  that  Christianity  is  that 
revelation.  We  have  now  come  to  that  point  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  in  which  the  question  among  all 
well-informed  men  must  be  between  the  truth  of 
Christianity  and  no  religion.  No  man,  surely,  would 
advocate  any  form  of  idolatry  or  of  polytheism,  and 
there  remain  only  the  religion  of  Mohammed,  and 
Deism,  to  be  compared  with  Christianity.  But  I  need 
not  spend  time  in  comparing,  or  rather  contrasting,  the 
religion  of  Mohammed,  unsustained  by  miracles  or  by 
prophecies,  propagated  by  the  sword,  encouraging 
fatalism,  and  pride,  and  intolerance,  sanctioning  polyg- 
amy, offering  a  sensual  heaven,  —  a  religion  whose 
force  is  already  spent,  which  has  no  sympathy  or 
congruity  with  the  enlarged  views  and  onward  move- 
ments of  these  days,  and  which  is  fast  passing  into  a 
hopeless  imbecility,  —  with  the  pure,  and  humble,  and 
beneficent  religion  of  Christ,  heralded  by  prophecy, 
sealed  by  miracles,  and  now,  after  eighteen  hundred 
years,  going  forth,  with  all  its  pristine  vigor,  to  bless 
the  nations. 


LECTURE    II.  71 

Of  Deism  it  may  b(3  doubted  whether  it  shoukl  be 
calh'd  a  religion.  It  has  never  had  a  priesthood,  nor  a 
creed,  nor  any  book  professing  to  contain  tlie  truths  it 
teaches,  nor  a  temple,  nor,  with  the  exception  of  a 
short  period  during  the  French  revolution,  an  assembly 
for  worship.  If  we  mean,  then,  by  religion,  any  such 
acknowledgment  of  God  as  recognizes  our  social 
nature,  and  binds  mankind  in  one  brotherhood  of 
equality,  while  it  presents  them  together  before  the 
throne  of  a  common  Father,  Deism  is  not  a  religion. 
Those  who  profess  to  teach  it  have  no  agreement  in 
their  doctrines,  and  the  doctrines  themselves  are,  sev- 
eral of  them,  borrowed  from  Christianity,  and  then 
inculcated   as  the   teachings  of  reason. 

No ;  there  is  nothing  on  the  face  of  the  earth  that 
can,  for  a  moment,  bear  a  comparison  with  Chris- 
tianity as  a  religion  for  man.  Upon  this  the  hope 
of  the  race  hangs.  From  the  very  first,  it  took  its 
position,  as  the  pillar  of  fire,  to  lead  the  race  onward. 
The  patriarchal,  and  Jewish,  and  Christian  dispen- 
sations, all  finding  their  identity  in  the  true  import 
of  sacrifices,  and  in  the  inculcation  of  righteousness, 
have  been  one  religion.  The  intelligence  and  power 
of  the  race  are  with  those  who  have  embraced  it; 
and  now,  if  this,  instead  of  proving  indeed  a  pillar  of 
fire  from  God,  should  be  found  but  a  delusive  meteor, 
then  nothing  will  be  left  to  the  race  but  to  go  back  to 
a  darkness  that  may  be  felt,  and  to  a  worse  than 
Egyptian  bondage. 


LECTUEE  III. 


INTERNAL  AND  EXTERNAL  EVIDENCE.  — VAGUENESS  OF  THE 
DIVISION  BETWEEN  THEM.  —  REASONS  FOR  CONSIDERING 
THE  INTERNAL  EVIDENCES  FIRST.  —  THE  ARGUMENT  FROM 
ANALOGY. 

In  mj  first  lecture,  I  attempted  to  show  that,  if  God 
has  given  a  revelation,  we  may  certainly  know  it ; 
and  in  the  second,  that  there  is  no  such  antecedent 
improbability  against  a  revelation,  as  to  justify  us  in 
requiring  proof  different  from  that  which  we  require 
for  other  events.  There  are  laws  of  evidence  accord- 
ing to  which  we  judge  in  other  cases,  and  I  only  ask 
that  these  same  laws  may  be  applied  here. 

If  these  points  are  established,  we  are  ready  to  in- 
quire whether  God  has  in  fact  given  a  revelation. 

On  coming  into  life,  we  find  Christianity  existing, 
and  claiming  to  be  such  a  revelation.  We  wish  to 
satisfy  ourselves  of  the  validity  of  that  claim.  How 
shall  we  proceed  ?  The  evidence  by  which  its  claims 
are  sustained  is  commonly  divided  into  two  kinds,  the 
external  and  the  internal.  This  division  is  simple,  and 
of  long  standing  ;  but  by  it  heads  of  evidence  are 
classed  together,  having  so  little  affinity  for  each  other, 
and,  in  regard  to  some  of  them,  it  is  so  difficult  to  see 
on  what  principle  they  are  classed  under  one  rather 


LECTURE  III.  73 

than  the  other,  that  its  utihty  may  be  doubted.  Thus 
the  evidence  from  testimony,  from  prophecy,  from  the 
mode  in  which  the  gospel  was  propagated,  and  from 
its  effects,  —  topics  resembling  each  other  scarcely  at 
all,  —  are  classed  under  the  head  of  the  external  evi- 
dences ;  while  the  various  marks  of  honesty  found  in 
the  New  Testament,  the  agreement  of  the  parts  with 
each  other,  its  peculiar  doctrines,  its  pure  morality,  its 
representation  of  the  character  of  Christ,  its  analogy 
to  nature,  its  adaptation  to  the  situation  and  wants 
of  man,  —  topics  still  more  diverse,  —  are  classed  un- 
der its  internal  evidences. 

I  notice  the  vagueness  of  this  arrangement,  because 
these  two  classes  of  evidence  have  often  been  opposed 
to  each  other,  and  the  superiority  of  one  over  the  other 
contended  for ;  and  because  great  and  good  men,  as 
Chalmers  formerly,  have  in  some  instances  regarded 
it  as  presumptuous  to  study  the  internal  evidences  at 
all,  as  if  it  would  be  a  sitting  in  judgment  beforehand 
on  the  kind  of  revelation  God  ought  to  give  ;  and 
others,  as  Wilson,  have  thought  it  arrogance  to  study 
the  internal  evidences  first,  as  if  the  capacity  to  judge 
of  a  revelation  after  it  was  given  implied  an  amount 
of  knowledge  that  would  preclude  the  necessity  of  any 
revelation  at  all. 

But  of  which  of  the  internal  evidences  mentioned 
above  can  it  be  said  to  be  presumptuous  for  man  to 
judge  without  reference  to  external  testimony  ?  Cer- 
tainly not  of  those  natural  and  incidental  evidences  of 
truth  spread  every  where  over  the  pages  of  the  New 
Testament ;  nor  of  the  agreement  of  the  several  books 
with  each  other ;  nor  of  the  morality  of  the  gospel ;  nor 
of  its  tendency  to  promote  human  happiness   in   this 

10 


74  LECTURE  III. 

life  ;  and  if  there  be  some  of  the  doctrines,  of  the  prob- 
ability of  which  we  could  not  judge  beforehand,  that 
is  no  reason  why  we  should  be  excluded  from  an  im- 
mediate and  free  range  in  every  other  part  of  this  field. 
There  is  what  has  been  called,  by  Verplanck,  a  critical, 
as  well  as  a  moral  internal  evidence.  Of  the  first  we 
are  competent  to  judge,  and,  in  determining  the  ques- 
tion of  our  competency  to  judge  of  the  second,  we  are 
not  to  overlook  a  distinction  made  by  the  same  able 
writer.  It  is  that  "  between  the  power  of  discovering 
truth,  and  that  of  examining  and  deciding  upon  it 
when  offered  to  our  judgment."  "  In  matters  of  hu- 
man science,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "to  how  few  is  the 
one  given,  and  how  common  is  the  other !  Look  at 
that  vast  mass  of  mathematical  invention  and  demon- 
stration which  has  been  carried  on  by  gifted  minds,  in 
every  age,  in  continued  progress,  from  the  days  of  the 
learned  priesthood  of  ancient  Egypt  to  those  of  the 
discoveries  of  La  Place  and  La  Grange.  Who  is  there 
of  the  mathematicians  of  this  generation  w^ho  could  be 
selected  as  capable  of  alone  discovering  all  this  pro- 
longed and  continuous  chain  of  demonstration  ?  If  left 
to  their  own  unaided  researches,  how^  far  would  the 
original  and  inventive  genius  of  a  Newton  or  a  Pascal 
have  carried  them  ?  Yet  we  know  that  all  this  body 
of  science,  this  magnificent  accumulation  of  the  patient 
labors  of  so  many  intellects,  may  be  examined  and  rig- 
orously scrutinized  in  every  step,  and  finally  completely 
mastered  and  familiarized  to  the  understanding,  in  a 
few  years'  study,  by  a  student  who,  trusting  solely  to 
his  own  mind,  could  never  have  advanced  beyond  the 
simple  elements  of  geometry. 

"  This  reasoning  may  be  apphed,  either  directly  or 


LECTURE    III.  75 

by  fair  analogy,  to  every  }3art  of  our  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  nature  and  of  mind  ;  and  it  therefore  seems  to 
be  neither  presumptuous  nor  unphilosophical,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  soundest 
reasoning,  to  maintain  that  though  'the  world  by  wis- 
dom knew  not  God,'  yet,  so  far  forth  as  he  reveals 
himself  to  men,  and  calls  upon  them  to  receive  and 
obey  that  revealed  will,  he  has  given  to  them  faculties, 
by  no  means  compelling,  but  yet  enabling  them  to 
understand  his  revelation ;  to  perceive  its  truth,  excel- 
lence, and  beauty;  and  to  become  sensible  of  their  own 
want  of  its  instruction,  as  well  as  to  estimate  that  ex- 
trinsic human  testimony  by  which  it  may  be  supported 
or  attended."  * 

Certainly,  there  are  many  things  in  which  we  per- 
ceive a  fitness  and  an  excellence,  when  they  are  made 
known,  of  which  we  should  never,  of  ourselves,  have 
formed  any  conception.  Thus  the  Newtonian  system 
comes  before  the  eye  of  the  mind  as  a  great  mountain 
does  before  that  of  the  body,  and  we  see  at  once  that 
it  is  worthy  of  God.  No  timid  disclaimer  of  our  right 
to  judge  of  the  works  of  God  can  prevent  this  effect. 
Its  simplicity,  and  beauty,  and  majesty,  speak  with  a 
voice  more  pleasing,  and  scarcely  less  satisfactory,  than 
that  of  mathematical  demonstration.  I  will  not  say- 
how  much  of  this  perceived  excellence,  or  whether  any, 
must  belono;  to  a  revelation  which  we  are  under  obli- 
gation  to  receive.  Certainly,  that  of  the  Jews  had  to 
them  far  less  of  this  than  ours  to  us.  But  I  will  say 
that  it  is  the  natural  impulse  of  the  mind  to  examine 
any  thing  claiming  to  be  a  revelation  by  such  tests ;  and 

*  Verplanck's  Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion. 


76  LECTURE    III. 

if  it  is  done  in  a  proper  spirit,  and  with  those  limita- 
tions which  good  sense  must  always  put  to  human 
inquiries,  it  is  neither  presumptuous  nor  dangerous.  It 
is  not  judging  beforehand  of  what  God  ought  to  do;  it 
is  judging  of  what  it  is  claimed  that  he  has  done;  and 
the  same  spirit  that  would  prevent  us  from  doing  this 
would  debar  us  from  any  study  of  final  causes  in  the 
works  of  God.  If  the  gospel  is  to  act  upon  character, 
it  must  be  received  with  an  intelligent  perception  of  its 
adaptation  to  our  wants,  and  of  its  excellence.  The 
message,  not  less  than  the  minister  of  God,  might 
be  expected  to  commend  itself  "  to  every  man's  con- 
science in  the  sight  of  God." 

I  would  not  claim  for  reason  a  place  which  does  not 
belong  to  it.  So  far  as  the  Christian  religion  rests  on 
facts,  it  must  rest  on  historical  evidence  ;  but  so  far  as 
it  is  a  system  of  truth  and  of  motives,  intended  to  bear 
on  human  character  and  well-being,  it  must  be  judged 
of  by  that  reason  and  conscience  which  God  has  given 
us.  There  are  in  the  mind,  as  God  made  it,  standards 
and  tests  which  must  ultimately  be  applied  to  it. 
Men  may  be  uncandid  or  irreverent  in  applying  these 
tests,  and  so  they  may  be  in  examining  historical  proof; 
and  I  have  no  more  fear  in  one  case  than  in  the  other. 
In  arguing  for  or  against  such  a  system  as  Christianity, 
we  of  course  take  for  granted  the  being  and  perfections 
of  God ;  we  have  a  previous  knowledge  of  his  works, 
of  his  providence,  of  the  difference  between  right  and 
wrong,  and  of  the  beings  for  whom  the  system  is  in- 
tended. Let,  now,  a  candid  man  find  in  the  system 
nothing  absurd  or  immoral,  but  many  things  that  seem 
to  him  strange,  and  little  accordant  with  what  he 
would  have  expected,  and  he  will  be  still  in  doubt.    He 


LECTURE    III.  77 

will  make  due  allowance  for  the  imperfection  of  his 
knowledge,  and  the  limitation  of  his  faculties,  and  he 
will  hold  his  mind  open  to  the  full  force  of  historical 
proof.  But  let  him  be  shown  a  system  which,  though 
he  could  not  have  discovered  it,  he  can  see,  when  dis- 
covered, to  be  worthy  of  a  God  of  infinite  wisdom  and 
goodness,  —  let  him  find  it  congruous  with  all  he  knows 
of  him  from  his  works,  coincident  with  natural  re- 
ligion, so  far  as  that  goes,  containing  a  perfect  moral- 
ity, harmonizing  with  the  highest  sentiments  of  man, 
and  adapted  to  his  wants  as  a  weak  and  guilty  being, — 
and  he  may  find  in  all  this  a  ground  of  rational  convic- 
tion that  such  a  system  must  have  come  from  God, 
and  so,  that  those  facts  which  are  inseparably  con- 
nected with  it  must  be  true.  The  historical  testimony 
may  then  be  to  him  much  as  the  testimony  of  the 
woman  of  Samaria  was  to  her  countrymen  after  they 
had  seen  and  heard  the  Saviour  for  themselves.  And 
this  is  the  natural  course  when  any  system  on  any 
subject  is  presented  to  us.  We  inquire  what  it  is,  and 
how  far  it  agrees  with  our  previous  knowledge ;  we 
come  up  to  it,  and  examine  it,  and  then,  if  necessary, 
we  investigate  the  history  of  its  origin. 

Nor  is  this  proof  from  internal  evidence,  as  some 
seem  to  suppose,  merely  the  result  of  feeling.  If  God 
has  given  us  a  religion  which  we  are  to  receive  in  the 
exercise  of  our  reason,  and  which  is  to  act  on  us 
through  our  affections  and  in  harmony  with  our  natu- 
ral faculties,  I  cannot  conceive  that  there  should  not  be 
found  in  it  such  congruities  and  adaptations  to  man, — 
such  a  fitness  to  promote  his  individual  and  social  well- 
being, —  as  to  show  that  it  came  from  Him  who  made 
man  ;  and  the  proof  arising  from  a  perception  of  this 


78  LECTURE    III. 

congruity  is  as  purely  intellectual,  as  strictly  argu- 
mentative, as  that  from  historical  evidence.  In  such  a 
case,  we  do  not  believe  the  religion  to  be  true  because 
we  feel  it  to  be  so,  but  because  we  see  in  it  a  divine 
wisdom,  and  the  adaptation  of  means  to  an  end. 

It  has  been  some  feeling  of  the  kind,  mentioned 
above  as  manifested  by  Chalmers  and  Wilson,  that 
has  determined  the  arrangement  of  every  treatise 
I  know  of,  published  either  in  England  or  this  coun- 
try, in  which  the  external  and  internal  evidences  are 
considered  together.  The  external  are  treated  of 
first,  are  regarded  as  settling  the  question,  and  then 
the  internal  are  brought  in  as  confirmatory.  Certainly, 
I  think  the  historical  evidence  conclusive,  and  it  is 
indispensable,  because  the  Christian  religion  is  not  a 
mere  set  of  dogmas,  or  of  speculative  opinions,  but  has 
its  foundation  in  facts.  It  is,  indeed,  a  manifestation 
of  principles,  but  not  by  verbal  statement  and  injunc- 
tion merely :  those  principles  are  imbodied  in  acts, 
and  it  is  only  as  thus  imbodied  that  they  have  their 
effective  power.  That  Jesus  Christ  lived,  and  was 
crucified,  and  rose  from  the  dead,  are  facts  as  neces- 
sary to  the  Christian  religion  as  the  foundation  to  a 
buildinof :  and  no  one  but  a  German  neoloirist  could 
possibly  think  otherwise.  But  if  the  external  evi- 
dences are  thus  indispensable  and  conclusive,  so  also 
are  the  internal.  What  would  have  been  the  effect 
and  force  of  Christ's  miracles,  without  his  spotless  and 
transcendent  character?  If  I  am  to  say  which  would 
most  deeply  impress  me  with  the  fact  that  he  was  from 
God,  the  testimony  respecting  his  miracles,  or  the  exhi- 
bition of  such  a  character,  I  think  I  should  say  the  latter; 
and  I  think  myself  as  well  qualified  to  judge  in  the  one 


LECTURE    III.  79 

case  as  in  ihc  other ;  and,  as  I  have  said,  I  think  this 
is  the  evid(uice  which  now  first  presents  itself. 

At  first,  when  the  religion  was  every  where  called 
in  question,  when  miracles  were  wrought  to  sustain  it, 
before  it  had  had  time  to  show  fully  its  adaptation  to 
the  wants  of  the  individual  man  and  of  societv,  it  was 
natural  to  refer  first  to  miracles  and  to  testimony  for 
its  divine  authority  ;  but  now,  when  the  religion  is 
established,  it  is  quite  as  natural  to  pass,  without  any 
particular  attention  to  the  historical  evidence,  to  the 
consideration  of  the  religion  itself,  its  suitableness  to 
what  we  know  of  God,  and  to  our  own  wants.  It  is, 
in  fact,  in  this  way  that  most  men  who  embrace  Chris- 
tianity are  led  to  do  it,  and  I  do  not  think  it  either 
"  presumptuous  or  unphilosophical "  to  follow,  in  pre- 
senting the  evidence,  the  course  which  has  been  fol- 
lowed by  most  Christians  in  attaining  that  ground  of 
faith  on  which  they  now  rest. 

Let  us,  then,  instead  of  going  first  through  a  long 
line  of  historical  testimony,  come  directly  to  the  Chris- 
tian religion  itself.  Let  us  examine  it,  with  candor 
indeed,  but  with  perfect  freedom.  Let  us  compare  it 
^\  ith,  and  test  it  by,  whatever  w^e  know  of  God  or  his 
works,  or  of  man.  It  courts  such  an  examination.  It 
is  because  it  is  not  thus  examined,  that  it  is  so  little 
regarded.  We  know  that  any  system  that  comes  from 
God  must  be  worthy  of  him ;  that  it  must  be  in  har- 
mony with  all  his  other  works  and  with  all  other  truth ; 
that  the  ends  proposed  by  it  must  be  good,  and  that  it 
must  be  adapted  in  the  best  manner  to  accomplish 
those  ends.  We  know,  I  say,  that  such  a  system  must 
really  he  all  this  ;  and,  in  proportion  to  our  knowledge, 
we  shall  ^ee  it  to  be  so.     If  we  cannot  understand  it 


80  LECTURE    III. 

fully,  as  indeed,  if  it  be  what  it  claims  to  be,  we  ought 
not  to  expect  to  do,  we  may  yet  know^  in  part.  We 
live  in  an  age  of  light.  The  religion  has  been  long  in 
the  world,  and  has  come  in  contact  with  God's  natu- 
ral providence,  and  with  human  institutions,  at  many 
points.  It  was  intended  to  act  upon  us  ;  and,  if  it  be 
really  from  God,  it  would  be  strange  if  we  could  not 
find  upon  it  some  impression  of  his  hand. 

We  say,  then,  first,  that  we  find  evidence  of  the 
divine  origin  of  the  Christian  religion  in  its  analogy 
to  the  works  and  natural  government  of  God.  There 
is  a  harmony  of  adaptation,  and  also  of  analogy.  The 
key  is  adapted  to  the  lock  ;  the  fin  of  the  fish  is  analo- 
gous to  the  wing  of  the  bird.  Christianity,  as  I  hope 
to  show,  is  adapted  to  man ;  it  is  analogous  to  the 
other  manifestations  w^hich  God  has  made  of  himself. 

The  works  of  God  are  divided  into  different  depart- 
ments, each  of  which  has  its  laws,  which  are  in  some 
sense  independent  of  the  others  ;  yet  there  is  such  a 
correspondence  manifest  between  them,  that  w^e  rec- 
ognize them,  at  once,  as  having  proceeded  from  the 
same  hand.  Scientific  research  impresses  upon  us  the 
conviction  that  God  is  one,  and  that  he  is  uniform  and 
consistent  in  all  his  works;  and  leads  us  to  expect,  if 
he  should  introduce  a  new  dispensation,  that  there 
would  be,  between  it  and  those  which  had  preceded 
it,  an  analogy  similar  to  that  which  had  been  found  to 
exist  between  the  other  departments.  Now^,  we  affirm 
that  the  gospel  contains  that  code  of  laws  which  God 
has  given  for  the  regulation  of  the  moral  and  spiritual 
department  of  his  creation  in  this  w^orld,  and  that 
there  is  between  it  and  the  other  works  of  God  the 


LECTURE    III.  81 

analogy  and  coricspondcncc  wliich  were  to  have  been 
expected. 

1.  I  observe,  that  the  Bible  is  coincident  with  na 
ture  as  now  known,  in  its  teachings  respecting  the 
natural  attributes  of  God.  The  New  Testament  sel- 
dom dwells  upon  the  natural  attributes  of  God  ;  but 
when  it  does  to  any  extent,  as  in  the  ascription  of 
Paul,  "  To  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible,  the 
only  wise  God,"  it  plainly  recogjiizes  and  adopts  the 
doctrines  of  the  Old,  and  they  may,  therefore,  for  this 
purpose,  be  fairly  taken  together.  Let  us  go  back, 
then,  to  those  ancient  prophets.  If  we  exclude  the 
idea  of  revelation,  nothing  can  be  more  surprising  than 
the  ideas  of  God  expressed  by  them.  These  ideas,  of 
themselves,  are  sufficient  to  give  the  stamp  of  divinity 
to  their  writings.  Surrounded  by  polytheists,  they 
proclaimed  his  unity.  Living  in  a  period  of  great 
ignorance  in  regard  to  physical  science,  they  ascribed 
to  God  absolute  eternity,  and  that  unchangeableness 
w^hich  is  essential  to  a  perfect  Being,  and  they  repre- 
sented all  his  natural  attributes  as  infinite.  Accord- 
ingly, it  is  when  these  attributes  are  their  theme,  that 
their  poetry  rises  to  its  unparalleled  sublimity.  "  Who," 
says  Isaiah,  "  hath  measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand,  and  meted  out  heaven  with  the  span,  and 
comprehended  the  dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and 
weighed  the  mountains  in  scales  and  the  hills  in  a  bal- 
ance ? "  Even  now,  when  Science  has  brought  her 
report  from  the  depths  of  infinite  space,  and  told  us 
of  the  suns  and  systems  that  glow  and  circle  there, 
how  can  we  better  express  our  emotions  than  to 
adopt  his  language,  and  say,  "  Lift  up  your  eyes  on 
high  and  behold  who  hath  created  these  things,  that 
11 


82  LECTURE    III. 

bringeth  out  their  host  by  number  :  He  calleth  them 
all  bj  names,  by  the  greatness  of  his  might,  for  that 
he  is  strong  in  power ;  not  one  faileth."  And  when 
Science  has  turned  her  glass  in  another  direction,  and 
discovered  in  the  teeming  drop  wonders  scarcely  less 
than  those  in  the  heavens  ;  when  she  has  analyzed 
matter ;  when  she  has  disentangled  the  rays  of  light, 
and  shown  the  colors  of  which  its  white  web  is  wo- 
ven ;  when  the  amazing  structure  of  vegetable  and 
animal  bodies  is  laid  open;  what  can  we  say  of  Him 
w  ho  worketh  all  this,  but  that  he  is  "  wonderful  in 
counsel,  and  excellent  in  working ! "  "  There  is  no 
searching  of  his  understanding."  And  when,  again, 
we  can  look  back  over  near  three  thousand  years  more, 
in  which  the  earth  has  rolled  on  in  its  appointed  way, 
and  the  mighty  energies  by  which  all  things  are  moved 
have  been  sustained,  what  can  we  do  but  to  ask, 
"  Hast  thou  not  known,  hast  thou  not  heard,  that 
the  everlasting  God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  w-eary  ?  "  With 
them  we  find  no  tendency,  as  among  the  ancient  phi- 
losophers, to  ascribe  eternity  to  matter ;  they  every 
where  speak  of  it  as  created  ;  nor,  with  the  pantheists, 
to  identify  matter  with  God  ;  nor,  with  the  idolater,  to 
be  affected  with  its  magnitude,  or  forms,  or  order,  or 
brightness,  or  whatever  may  strike  the  senses.  But, 
with  them,  all  matter  is  perfectly  subordinate  and 
paltry  when  compared  with  God.  They  represent 
him  as  sustaining  it  for  a  time  in  its  present  order, 
and  then  as  folding  up  these  visible  heavens  as  a  vest- 
ure is  folded,  and  laying  them  aside.  Nothing  could 
more  perfectly  express  the  absolute  infinity  of  the  nat- 
ural attributes  of  God,  or  the  entire  separation  and 


LECTURE    III.  83 

disparity  between  him  and  every  thing  that  is  called 
the  universe,  or  its  complete  subjection  to  his  will. 

Now,  that  men,  undistinguished  from  others  around 
them  by  learning,  in  an  age  of  prevalent  polytheism 
and  idolatry,  and  of  great  ignorance  of  physical  science, 
should  adopt  such  doctrines  respecting  the  natural  at- 
tributes of  God,  as  to  require  no  modification  when 
science  has  been  revolutionized  and  expanded  as  it 
were  into  a  new  universe,  does  seem  to  me  no  slight 
evidence  that  they  were  inspired  by  that  God  whose 
attributes  they  set  forth. 

2.  1  observe,  that  there  is  an  analogy  between  the 
laws  of  nature,  as  discovered  by  induction,  and  the 
moral  laws  contained  in  the  New  Testament,  not  only 
as  implying  the  same  natural  attributes  in  God,  but  as 
they  are  carried  out  to  the  same  perfection.  It  is  the 
great  and  sublime  characteristic  of  natural  law,  espe- 
cially of  the  law  of  gravitation,  that,  while  it  controls  so 
perfectly  such  vast  masses,  and  at  such  amazing  dis- 
tances, it  yet  also  controls  equally  the  minutest  particle 
that  floats  in  the  sunbeam  ;  and  that,  however  wildly 
that  particle  may  be  driven,  —  wherever  it  may  float  in 
the  infinity  of  space,  —  it  never,  for  one  moment,  escapes 
the  cognizance  and  supervision  of  this  law.  It  never 
can.  This  implies  a  minuteness  and  perfection  of 
natural  government,  of  which  science,  as  known  in  the 
time  of  Christ,  could  have  given  no  intimation.  But 
now,  how  natural  does  it  seem  that  the  same  God,  who, 
in  the  universal  control  of  his  natural  law,  no  more 
neglects  the  minutest  particle  than  the  largest  planet, 
should  also,  in  his  moral  law,  take  cognizance  of  every 
idle  word,  and  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart ! 
Yes ;  I  find,  in  the  particle  of  dust,  shown  by  the  great- 


84  LECTURE    III. 

est  expounder  of  God's  natural  law  to  be  constantly  re- 
garded by  him,  and  in  the  idle  word  declared  by  Christ 
to  come  under  the  notice  and  condemnation  of  his 
moral  law,  —  I  find,  in  the  minuteness  and  com])leteness 
of  the  government  of  matter,  as  revealed  by  modern 
science,  and  even  shown  to  the  eye  by  the  microscope, 
and  in  that  interpretation  of  the  moral  law  which  makes 
it  spiritual,  causing  it  to  reach  every  thought  and  intent 
of  the  heart,  —  a  conception  of  the  same  absolute  per- 
fection of  government,  both  in  the  natural  and  moral 
world  ;  and  I  find  the  same  infinite  natural  attributes 
implied  as  the  sole  conditions  on  which  such  a  govern- 
ment in  either  of  these  departments  can  be  carried  on. 

This  idea  of  the  absolute  universality  and  perfection 
of  government  in  any  department  —  the  only  one,  how- 
ever, worthy  of  a  perfect  God  —  is  not  an  idea,  espe- 
cially in  its  moral  applications,  which  I  should  think 
likely  to  have  originated  with  man.  In  the  depart- 
ment of  nature  we  know  that  he  did  not  originate  or 
suspect  it  till  it  was  forced  on  his  observation.  And 
how  comes  it  to  pass  that  this  absolute  perfection  of 
moral  government,  this  notice  of  the  particle  of  dust 
there,  this  judgment  of  every  idle  word,  of  every  secret 
thing,  of  the  minutest  moral  act  of  the  most  inconsid- 
erable moral  being  that  ever  lived,  should  have  been 
discovered  and  announced  thousands  of  years  before 
its  more  obvious  counterpart  in  the  natural  world  was 
even  suspected  ? 

And  here  I  cannot  but  notice,  though  I  will  not  put 
it  under  a  separate  head,  how  coincident  all  that  sci- 
ence has  discovered  is  with  the  Scripture  doctrine  of 
the  universal  and  particular  providential  government 
of  God.     We  all  know  how  slow  men  have  been  to 


LECTURE    III.  85 

receive  this;  and  yet  it  would  seem  that  no  theist, 
with  a  clear  perception  of  the  mode  in  which  natural 
law  operates,  could  doubt  it.  Does  God  control  con- 
stantly immense  masses  of  matter  through  natural 
law  ?  How  ?  Why,  by  causing  the  law  to  operate, 
not  upon  the  mass  as  a  whole,  but  upon  every  individ- 
ual particle  composing  that  mass;  that  is,  he  governs 
the  vast  through  his  government  of  the  minute.  And 
if  he  does  this  in  matter,  who  will  deny  the  probability 
of  a  providential  care,  proceeding  on  jnecisely  the 
same  princi[)les,  which  numbers  the  hairs  of  our  heads, 
and  watches  the  fall  of  the  sparrow  ?  Shall  God  care 
for  the  less  and  not  for  the  greater  ?  "  If  he  so  clothe 
the  grass  of  the  field,  shall  he  not  much  more  clothe 
you,  O  ye  of  little  faith  ?  " 

3.  I  observe,  that  there  is  an  analogy,  both  in  their 
kind  and  in  their  limit,  between  the  knowledge  com- 
municated by  nature  and  that  by  Christianity.  Nature 
is  full  and  explicit  in  her  communication  of  necessary 
practical  facts,  but  is  at  no  pains  to  explain  the  reasons 
and  methods  of  those  facts.  She  gives  us  the  air  to 
breathe,  and  we  are  invigorated  ;  but  she  does  not 
teach  us  that  it  is  composed  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen, 
and  that  our  vigor  comes  from  the  oxygen  alone.  She 
gives  us  the  light,  and  we  see  ;  but  how  long  did  the 
world  stand  before  she  whispered  to  any  one  that 
that  light  was  composed  of  the  seven  primary  colors  ? 
She  instructs  us  in  the  uses  of  fire  ;  but  she  does  not 
teach  us  how  the  process  of  combustion  is  carried  on. 
Men  have  boiled  water  equally  well  from  the  begin- 
ning ;  but  it  was  left  to  this  age,  and  to  Faraday,  to 
discover  that  flame  is  the  product  of  electrical  agency. 
She  teaches  us  the  facts;  she  enables  us  to  go  through 


86  LECTURE    III. 

the  practical  processes ;  and  then  she  leaves  us  to  find 
our  way  as  we  best  may  through  the  philosophy  of 
those  facts. 

And  so  it  is  with  the  knowledge  communicated  by 
Christianity.  There  is  not  a  great  practical  fact  which 
a  moral  being  can  ask  to  know,  concerning  which  it 
does  not  speak  with  perfect  distinctness.  The  fact  of 
a  full  and  a  perfect  accountability,  and  of  a  future  retri- 
bution,—  the  fact  of  immortality,  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  of  a  particular  providence,  of  the  freedom 
of  man,  of  his  dependence  upon  God,  and  of  the  mercy 
of  God  to  returning  penitents,  —  each  of  these  is  made 
known  with  entire  fulness  and  explicitness ;  but  very 
little  is  said  respecting  the  philosophy  of  these  facts, 
or  the  mode  in  which  they  may  be  reconciled  to  each 
other.  The  Bible  gives  the  information  that  is  needed, 
and  there  it  stops.  It  communicates  practical,  and 
never  speculative  knowledge  as  such. 

Now,  when  we  consider  that  Christianity  solves,  in 
its  own  way,  all  the  great  questions  relating  to  human 
destiny,  it  must  be  regarded  as  remarkable,  that,  in 
communicating  this  information,  it  should  thus  stop 
precisely  where  nature  stops.  When  we  consider  how 
strong  the  tendency  must  have  been  to  unaided  human 
nature  to  gratify  and  excite  man  by  particular  descrip- 
tions of  other  worlds  and  of  things  unseen,  so  naturally 
to  be  expected  from  a  messenger  from  those  worlds ; 
when  we  consider  how  strong  a  hold  the  fanatic  and 
the  impostor  gain  upon  the  imagination  of  their  follow- 
ers by  such  means ;  and  that,  without  miracles  and 
without  evidence,  this  is,  indeed,  the  chief  hold  they 
can  have  upon  them;  and  when  we  observe  the  course 
taken  at  this  point  by  all  others  who  have  pretended 


LECTURE  III.  87 

to  revelation,   we    shall    not    estimate    this    argument 
lightly. 

How  different  the  course  of  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles, in  this  resix^ct,  from  that  of  the  writers  of  the 
Shasters,  and  of  Mohanuned !  When  Christ  and 
his  apostles  speak  of  a  future  world  of  reward  and  of 
punishment,  it  is,  indeed,  in  such  terms  as  to  produce 
a  strong  moral  impression,  but  it  is  still  with  a  se- 
vere and  cautious  reserve.  Those  terms  are  general. 
There  is  no  dwelling  upon  particulars,  as  if  for  the 
purpose  of  gratifying  curiosity,  or  giving  a  loose  rein 
to  the  imagination.  They  speak  of  "  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  of  "  everlasting  life,"  of  "  a  crown  of  glory 
that  fadeth  not  away,"  of  "  life  and  immortality,"  of 
"  many  mansions,"  and  a  "  Father's  house  ;  "  but  then 
they  say,  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him."  So,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  speak  of  "  the  fire  that  never  shall  be 
quenched,"  "  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire 
is  not  quenched;"  of  the  "everlasting  fire,  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels;  "  of  "  everlasting  destruc- 
tion from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory 
of  his  power;  "  of  "  the  blackness  of  darkness  forever;" 
but  they  descend  into  no  minute  descriptions.  Not  so 
Mohammed..  Speaking  of  heaven,  he  says,  "  There 
are  they  who  shall  approach  near  unto  God.  They 
shall  dwell  in  gardens  of  delight.  Yonths^  w- hich  shall 
continue  in  their  bloom  forever,  shall  go  round  about 
to  attend  them  with  goblets  and  beakers,  and  a  cup  of 
flowing  wine,  —  their  heads  shall  not  ache  by  drinking 
the  same,  neither  shall  their  reason  be  disturbed  ;  and 
with  fruits  of  the  roots  which  they  shall  choose,  and  the 


88  LECTURE   III, 

flesh  of  birds  of  the  kind  wiiich  they  shall  desire.  And 
there  shall  accompaiij  them  fair  damsels,  having  large 
black  eyes  resembling  pearls  hidden  in  their  shells,  as 
a  reward  for  that  which  they  have  wrought."  *  "  But 
as  for  the  sincere  servants  of  God,  they  shall  have  a 
certain  provision  in  paradise,  namely,  delicious  fruits ; 
and  they  shall  be  honored ;  they  shall  be  placed  in 
gardens  of  pleasure,  leaning  on  couches,  opposite  to 
one  another  ;  a  cup  shall  be  carried  round  unto  them, 
filled  from  a  limpid  fountain,  for  the  delight  of  those 
who  drink,  —  it  shall  not  oppress  their  understanding, 
neither  shall  they  be  inebriated  therewith.  And  near 
them  shall  lie  the  virgins  of  paradise,  refraining  their 
looks  from  beholding  any  besides  their  spouses,  having 
large  black  eyes,  and  resembling  the  eggs  of  an  ostrich 
covered  with  feathers  from  the  dust."  f  So,  also, 
speaking  of  the  world  of  punishment,  he  says,  "  Those 
who  believe  not  have  garments  of  fire  fitted  to  them ; 
boiling  water  shall  be  poured  on  their  heads  ;  their 
bowels  shall  be  dissolved  thereby,  and  also  their  skin  ; 
and  they  shall  be  beaten  with  maces  of  iron.  So  often 
as  they  shall  endeavor  to  get  out  of  hell,  because  of  the 
anguish  of  their  torments,  they  shall  be  dragged  back 
into  the  same,  and  their  tormentors  shall  say,  '  Taste  ye 
the  pains  of  burning.'  "  J  "It  shall  be  said  unto  them. 
Go  ye  into  the  punishment  which  ye  denied  as  a  false- 
hood :  go  ye  into  the  smoke  of  hell,  which  shall  arise 
in  three  volumes,  and  shall  not  shade  you  from  the 
heat,  neither  shall  it  be  of  service  against  the  flame  ; 
but  it  shall  cast  forth  sparks  as  big  as  towers,  resem- 
bling yellow  camels   in   color."  ^     We   can  now   see 


» 


Koran,  chap.  Ivi.  Sale's  edition.  t  Koran,  chap.  xxii. 

t  Koran,  chap,  xxxvii.  §  Koran,  chap,  xxvii. 


LECTURE    ITT.  89 

that  the  stern  refusal  on  the  part  of  Christ  and  his  disci- 
ples to  lift  the  veil  and  show  us  the  invisible  world  was 
not  onlv  analoirous  to  the  course  of  nature,  but  that  it 
was  the  only  course  compatible  with  good  sense  and 
sound  philosophy.  But  why  have  these  men,  of  all 
those  who  have  made  pretensions  to  inspiration,  thus 
kept  upon  that  difficult  line  which  so  commends  itself  to 
the  sober  judgment  of  the  thinking  part  of  mankind  ? 
And  not  less  striking  is  the  analogy  between  the 
limits  of  that  knowledge  which  is  obtained  from  na- 
ture, and  that  which  is  obtained  from  the  Bible ;  or, 
to  express  my  thought  more  exactly,  between  the 
mode  in  which  what  is  made  known  in  both  cases, 
runs  out  into  an  infinite  unknown.  However  long, 
and  in  whatever  department  the  student  of  nature 
may  labor,  he  finds  himself  no  nearer  the  completion 
of  his  knowledge  ;  and,  as  he  passes  on,  he  is  ready  to 
exclaim,  with  Burke,  "  What  subject  is  there  that  does 
not  branch  out  into  infinity!  "  Even  when  most  suc- 
cessful, he  compares  himself  to  a  "  child  picking  up 
pebbles  upon  the  beach,  while  the  great  ocean  of  truth 
is  still  before  him."  The  intellectual  vision  of  one 
man  may  extend  farther  than  that  of  another  ;  he  may 
have  a  wider  horizon  ;  but  to  both  alike  the  sky  closes 
down  upon  the  mountains,  and  what  is  known  stretches 
off  into  the  infinity  that  is  unknown.  Nature  places 
us  in  the  midst  of  infinity.  She  intimates  a  probable 
connection  between  our  planet  and  the  myriads  of 
worlds  which  float  in  space  ;  she  suggests,  by  analogy, 
the  probability  of  a  moral  and  intellectual  system  cor- 
responding in  extent  to  the  greatness  of  the  physical 
universe ;  she  awakens  our  curiosity  respecting  the 
forms  and  modes  of  being  of  those  who  dwell  in  the 

12 


90  LECTURE   III. 

Stellar  worlds ;  but  she  gives  us  no  means  of  grati- 
fying our  curiosity.  The  language  of  nature  to  man 
is,  'You  are  a  pupil,  upon  one  form,  in  the  great 
school  of  God's  discipline.  You  are  permitted  to 
conjecture  that  there  are  other  and  higher  forms,  but 
to  know  nothing  of  what  is  taught  there.  Your  busi- 
ness is  to  learn  the  lessons  which  are  taught  here,  and 
be  content,  though  you  cannot  but  see  that  all  known 
truth  has  relations  with  much  more  that  is  unknown.' 
And  just  so  it  is  with  the  Bible.  It  does  not  present 
us  with  a  defined  system  of  truth,  squared  by  the  sci- 
entific rule  and  compass,  which  the  human  mind  can 
master  and  comprehend.  Its  truths  take  hold  on  the 
eternity  that  is  past,  and  stretch  on  into  that  which  is 
to  come.  Does  Nature  lead  us  into  deep  mysteries  ? 
So  does  the  Bible.  Does  she  leave  us  there,  to 
wonder  and  adore  ?  So  does  the  Bible.  We  claim 
mysteries  as  a  part  of  Christianity.  We  say  that  a 
religion  coming  from  the  God  of  nature  could  not 
be  without  them.  We  are  nothing  moved  by  the 
sneer  of  the  infidel  when  he  asks,  "  What  kind  of 
a  revelation  is  the  revelation  of  a  mystery  ? "  We 
say  to  him,  that  it  is  the  revelation  of  a  fact,  all 
the  modes  and  relations  of  which  are  not  known  ;  or 
which  may  seem  to  conflict  with  something  already 
known  ;  and  that,  in  the  revelation  of  portions  of  an 
infinite  scheme  to  a  finite  mind,  facts  thus  related 
would  be  naturally  expected.  Is  no  revelation  of  any 
value  but  that  which  is  clear,  full,  and  distinct  ?  What 
kind  of  a  revelation  is  that  which  nature  makes  of  the 
starry  heavens  —  dim,  remote,  obscure,  suggesting  a 
thousand  questions,  and  answering  none  ?  And  yet 
even  this  is  of  infinite  value  to  man.     And  thus  it  is 


LECTURE    III.  91 

that  the  Bil)le  takes  it  for  granted  that  there  are  other 
orders  of  intelligent  beings,  angels  and  archangels,  ])rin- 
cipalities  and  powers,  heavenly  hosts  innumerable  — 
just  such  an  intellectual  and  moral  system  as  we  might 
su})pose  from  our  present  knowledge  of  the  works  of 
God ;  but  no  particulars  are  given :  it  merely  shows 
them  as  the  night  shows  the  stars,  and,  like  nature, 
it  leaves  us  standing  in  the  midst  of  infinity,  with  a 
thousand  questions  unanswered.  Now,  I  cannot  help 
thinking,  if  the  Bible  had  been  made  by  man,  that  it 
would  either  have  been  a  system  perfectly  defined, 
with  the  clearness,  and  at  the  same  time,  the  shallow- 
ness, of  the  human  intellect ;  or  it  would  have  been 
wild,  and  extravagant,  and  vague ;  or  it  would  have 
pretended  to  lay  open  minutely  the  secrets  of  distant 
and  future  worlds. 

4.  I  observe,  that  there  is  an  analogy  or  correspond- 
ence between  the  works  of  God  and  the  Bible,  such 
as  w'e  had  a  right  to  expect,  if  both  came  from  him, 
because  a  similar  temper  and  attitude  of  mind  is  re- 
quired for  the  successful  study  of  both.  The  identity 
of  that  spirit,  which  Christ  inculcates  as  the  essential 
prerequisite  to  the  proper  understanding  and  reception 
of  the  great  truths  which  he  taught,  with  the  true 
philosophic  spirit,  was  first  noticed  by  Bacon.  He 
says,  in  very  remarkable  words,  "  The  kingdom  of 
man,  which  Wcls  founded  on  the  sciences,  cannot  be 
entered  otherwise  than  the  kingdom  of  God ;  that  is, 
in  the  condition  of  a  little  child."  The  meaning  and 
the  truth  of  this  will  be  manifest  from  a  moment's 
attention  to  the  history  of  science.  So  long  as  man 
attempted  to  theorize,  and  to  sit  in  judgment  upon 
God,  to  determine  what  he  ought  to  have  done,  instead 


92  LECTURE    III. 

of  taking  the  attitude  of  a  learner  before  the  book  of 
nature,  nothing  can  exceed  the  puerilities  and  absurdi- 
ties into  which  he  fell.  But  the  moment  he  laid  aside 
the  pride  of  theory,  and  took  the  humble  attitude  of  a 
learner  and  observer,  an  interpreter  of  nature,  science 
began  to  advance.  Man  talked  of  rearing  the  temple 
of  science,  as  if  it  were  to  be  constructed  by  him.  But, 
as  far  as  there  is  any  temple,  it  has  stood,  as  it  now 
stands,  in  its  imposing  majesty,  since  the  creation  of 
the  works  of  God ;  and  all  that  man  can  do  is  to  unveil 
that  temple,  and  show  its  fair  proportions.  The  true 
philosopher  does  not  think  of  rearing  any  thing  of  his 
own.  He  feels  that  he  is  a  learner,  and  a  learner  only 
at  the  feet  of  nature.  He  represses  entirely  the  im- 
agination, however  beautiful  and  enticing  may  be  the 
theories  which  it  would  form  ;  rejects  all  prejudice  and 
preconceived  opinion  ;  and  follows  fearlessly  wherever 
observation,  and  experiment,  and  facts,  may  lead  him. 

Is  it  said  that  there  have  been  great  philosophers 
who  have  been  infidels,  and  have  not  had  this  spirit  ? 
I  answer,  no.  There  have  been  second-rate  philoso- 
phers, who  have  distinguished  themselves  by  following 
out  the  discoveries  of  greater  men  ;  but  all  the  great 
discoverers,  those  whose  minds  have  sympathized  most 
intensely  with  nature,  have  been  distinguished  for  this 
spirit.* 

But  that  this  spirit  and  temper  are  required  by  the 
gospel  in  order  to  a  knowledge  of  that,  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  show.  There  we  find  the  original  requi- 
sition to  become  as  a  little  child.  It  requires  every 
imagination  to  be  brought  down,  and  every  high  thing 

*  See  Whewell's  Bridt^ewater  Treatise. 


LECTURE     III.  93 

that  exalteth  itself  against  the  knowledge  of  Cod;  and 
that  every  thought  should  be  brought  into  captivity  to 
the  obedience  of  Christ.  No  progress  can  be  made 
in  religion,  or  in  science,  till  the  pride  which  exalts 
itself  to  judge  over  God,  and  to  decide  what  he  ought 
to  have  done,  is  repressed,  and  till  the  man  takes  his 
place  as  a  learner  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  as  the  philoso- 
pher takes  his  place  at  the  feet  of  nature.  So  coinci- 
dent is  the  spirit  of  true  religion  and  of  true  philosophy  : 
so  perfectly  did  our  Saviour  express  the  true  spirit  of 
both  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  Wonderful  indeed 
is  it  that,  when  the  great  expounder  of  method  in  nat- 
ural science  would  express  the  true  spirit  of  the  true 
method,  he  should  find  no  fitter  words  than  those  used 
by  Christ,  before  the  inductive  philosophy  was  dreamed 
of,  to  express  the  proper  method  of  study  in  a  higher 
department  of  the  kingdom  and  government  of  God. 
If,  then,  nature  and  revelation  are  thus  similarly  related 
to  the  human  mind,  they  must  be  analogous  to  each 
other. 

In  close  connection  with  this  head,  I  observe  that,  so 
far  as  Nature  teaches  natural  religion  and  moral  truth, 
there  is  an  analogy  between  both  the  mode  and  the 
results  of  her  teaching  and  those  of  Christianity. 
Nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that  the  condition 
in  which  God  intended  man  should  be  placed,  in  this 
world,  is  that  of  a  probation,  in  which  there  should  be 
no  overwhelming  force,  or  preponderance  of  motives, 
on  either  side  ;  in  which  a  wrong  choice  should  be 
possible,  and  a  right  one  often  difficult.  No  other 
supposition  accords  with  the  limited  knowledge  of 
man,  or  with  the  mixed  and  balanced  motives  in  the 
midst  of  which  he  must  often  act.     Accordingly,  while 


94  LECTURE    III. 

the  moral  and  religious  teachings  of  nature  are  real 
and  valid,  and  he  that  has  ears  to  hear  may  hear, 
they  are  yet  never  obtrusive.  The  voice  of  those 
teachings  is  a  still,  small  voice,  easily  drowned  by  the 
roar  of  passion  or  by  the  din  of  the  world,  but  sweet 
and  powerful  in  the  ear  of  those  who  are  willing  to 
listen.  Accordingly,  nothing  is  easier,  or  more  common, 
than  for  men  "to  quench  the  light  of  natural  virtue  by 
a  course  of  profligacy,  and  to  acquire  contempt  for  all 
goodness  by  familiarity  with  vice."  This  is  the  method 
in  which  nature  teaches  moral  and  religious  truth,  lift- 
ing up  always  the  same  quiet  voice,  whether  men  will 
hear  or  whether  they  will  forbear ;  and  these  are  the 
results.  Christianity  keeps  to  the  principle  of  that 
method,  nor  are  the  results  different  in  kind.  Whether 
we  consider  the  evidence  for  its  divine  origin,  or  the 
moral  truths  which  it  inculcates,  we  find  that,  while  it 
has  such  evidence  as  to  be  satisfactory  to  those  who 
will  attend  to  it,  yet  that  it  does  not  force  that  evi- 
dence upon  the  attention  of  any.  Here  the  voice  is 
indeed  a  louder  voice,  and  he  that  hath  ears  may  hear ; 
but  it  does  not  compel  the  attention  of  men.  Accord- 
ingly, as  we  find  men  disregarding  the  teachings  of 
natural  conscience,  and  the  general  maxims  of  virtue, 
so  also  do  we  find  them  remaining  in  ignorance,  and 
consequent  contempt,  of  God's  revelation. 

I  know  that  this  feature  of  revelation  has  been 
made  an  objection  against  it.  It  has  been  said  that, 
if  God  had  given  a  revelation,  he  would  have  accom- 
panied it  with  evidence  that  must  have  forced  con\'ic- 
tion  upon  every  mind  —  that  he  would  have  written 
it  upon  the  heavens ;  but  the  objector  does  not  con- 
sider that,  in  that  case,  this  would  have  been  no  longer 


LECTURE    III.  95 

a  place  of  probation,  and  the  revelation  of  the  gospel 
not  at  all  in  keeping  with  the  revelation  of  nature. 
Are  the  great  truths  of  natural  religion  written  upon 
the  heavens  ?  Are  the  common  maxims  of  temper- 
ance, and  integrity,  and  benevolence,  forced  upon  the 
attention  of  all  ?  Instead,  therefore,  of  finding,  in  the 
unobtrusive  nature  of  the  evidence  and  claims  of  Chris- 
tianity, an  argument  against  it,  I  find,  in  these  very 
circumstances,  an  argument  that  it  is  from  that  God 
who  has  caused  the  light  of  natural  religion,  and  even 
the  light  of  science,  to  exist  in  the  world  under  pre- 
cisely the  same  conditions. 

5.  I  observe,  that  Christianity  is  in  harmony  with 
the  works  of  God,  because  it  is  a  system  of  means.* 
It  is  asked,  by  some,  if  God  wishes  the  holiness  of 
men,  why  he  does  not  make  them  holy  at  once ;  and 
that  he  should  take  a  long  course  of  means,  to  accom- 
plish his  wish,  is  objected  to  as  derogatory  both  to  his 
power  and  to  his  wisdom.  But,  surely,  I  need  not  say 
that  all  nature  is  a  system  of  means  —  that  the  end  to 
be  accomplished  never  is  accomplished  without  the 
means,  and  that  those  means  often  require  the  lapse 
of  ages  before  this  end  is  obtained.  No  doubt  God 
could  create  a  tree  at  once  in  its  full  perfection  ;  but, 
instead  of  this,  he  causes  it  to  germinate  from  a  little 
seed,  and  makes  his  sun  shine  upon  it,  and  waters  it 
with  showers,  and  subjects  it  to  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
seasons,  (during  portions  of  which  it  seems  to  make  no 
progress,)  till,  at  length,  it  towers  towards  heaven,  and 
defies  the  storms  of  ages.  So  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
in  the  soul  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  which  is 

*  Butler's  Analogy,  part  2,  chap.  4. 


96  LECTURE    III. 

indeed  the  least  of  all  seeds ;  but  God  causes  it  to 
spring  up,  and  shines  uj)on  it  with  the  light  of  his 
countenance,  and  waters  it  with  the  dews  of  his  grace, 
till  it  becomes  a  plant  bearing  fruit  in  the  garden  of 
God.  And  yet  those  who  believe  that  nature  is  of 
God,  object  to  the  gospel  because  of  the  very  circum- 
stances in  which  it  harmonizes  with  his  other  works. 
And  here  I  mention  a  ground  of  misapprehension 
w^hich  is  common  to  nature  and  to  Christianity.  A 
system  of  means  implies  the  gradual  development  of 
a  plan,  and  of  course  the  plan  must  present  very  differ- 
ent aspects  to  those  who  view  it  in  its  different  stages. 
There  are  some  processes  in  nature  that  could  not 
have  been  understood  in  the  first  periods  of  the  world. 
Thus  the  periods  and  motions  of  some  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  were  so  obscure  and  comj)licated,  that  it  re- 
quired the  observation  and  study  of  near  six  thousand 
years  to  understand  and  reduce  them  to  system ;  and 
the  eye  of  the  philosopher  who  scanned  those  bodies 
before  such  observations  could  be  made,  must  have 
remained  unsatisfied  and  perj)lexed.  He  saw  the  light 
of  the  bodies,  and  walked  in  it ;  but  he  could  not  un- 
derstand the  j:)hilosophy  and  harmony  of  their  motions. 
So  it  is  with  Christianity.  While  it  gives  freely  the 
practical  light  which  is  necessary  to  our  guidance,  men 
have  been  very  differently  situated  in  regard  to  their 
opportunities  of  judging  of  its  philosophy.  Respecting 
this  they  have  judged,  and  still  judge,  very  differently, 
and  probably  none  of  them,  in  all  points,  correctly. 
They  are  not  yet  in  the  right  position.  Place  a  man 
in  the  sun,  and  he  will  be  an  astronomer  at  once.  His 
position  will  enable  him  to  see  the  motions  of  the  plan- 
ets just  as  they  are.     And  Christianity  speaks  of  just 


LECTURE    III.  97 

such  a  point,  in  relation  to  itself  and  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  God,  A\'here  every  man  will  hereafter  be  placed. 
It  speaks  of  a  "  day  of  the  restitution  of  all  things." 
In  the  mean  time,  those  who  refuse  to  be  governed  by 
the  practical  light  of  Christianity,  because  they  cannot 
understand  certain  points  of  its  philosophy,  pursue  the 
same  course  as  those  philosophers  who  lived  before  the 
time  of  Newton  would  have  done,  if  they  had  shut 
their  eyes  upon  the  light  of  the  moon  because  they 
could  not  understand  its  motions. 

6.  I  observe,  that  Christianity  is  analoirous  to  the 
system  of  nature  because  it  is  a  remedial  system.* 
When  the  body  is  diseased,  when  a  limb  is  broken, 
when  gangrene  conmiences,  nature  does  not  certainly 
leave  the  man  to  perish.  She  has  provided  a  remedial 
system ;  and  if  the  proper  remedies  are  applied  in  sea- 
son, the  man  may  be  restored.  Now,  what  this  reme- 
dial system  is  in  the  course  of  nature,  Christianity  is 
in  the  moral  government  of  God.  It  comes  to  us  in 
the  same  way,  not  as  to  the  whole,  but  as  to  the  sick, 
and  offers  us  assistance  upon  similar  conditions.  The 
man  who  is  sick  must  have  sufficient  faith  in  the  rem- 
edy to  give  it  a  fair  trial,  and  so  must  he  who  would 
be  benefited  by  Christianity.  The  remedial  system 
of  nature  often  requires  the  suffering  of  great  present 
pain,  that  greater  future  pain  may  be  avoided  ;  and 
Christianity  requires  self-denials  and  sacrifices  which 
are  so  difficult,  that  they  are  compared  to  the  cutting 
off  of  a  right  hand,  and  the  plucking  out  of  a  right 
eye.  The  remedial  system  of  nature  does  not  free  the 
sick  man  at   once   from  all  the  painful  consequences 


*  Butler,  part  2,  chap.  3. 
13 


98  LECTURE   III. 

of  his  disease.  He  suffers,  and,  it  may  be,  lingers 
long  under  it,  in  spite  of  the  best  remedies.  So  he 
who  receives  Christianity  does  not  escape  at  once  all 
the  painful  consequences  of  sin.  He  suffers  and  dies 
on  account  of  it;  but  the  remedy  is  sovereign,  and 
through  it  he  shall  finally  be  delivered  from  sin  alto- 
gether, and  restored  to  perfect  moral  soundness.  Na- 
ture makes  no  distinctions.  The  pains  which  she 
inflicts  are  as  severe,  and  the  remedies  which  she 
offers  are  as  bitter,  to  one  as  to  another.  Christianity, 
also,  is  entirely  impartial.  All  who  receive  it  must 
receive  it  on  the  same  humbling  terms,  and,  upon  all 
who  will  not  receive  it,  it  denounces  the  same  fearful 
punishment.  Under  this  head,  therefore,  we  find  a 
very  close  analogy  betw^een  the  mode  of  administra- 
tion in  nature  and  that  which  is  revealed  by  Chris- 
tianity. 

7.  I  observe,  that  Christianity  is  analogous  to  the 
system  of  nature  because  it  is  a  mediatorial  system. 
In  mentioning  this,  I  do  not  intend  to  enter  upon  any 
controverted  ground,  for  all  admit  that,  through  the 
sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  voluntarily  undergone, 
we  receive  at  least  great  temporal  benefits ;  and  what 
I  contend  for  is,  that,  whether  we  confine  his  interpo- 
sition and  mediation  to  this  low  sense,  or  suppose  it 
the  sole  ground  of  pardon,  still  the  principle,  as  one 
of  mediation,  is  not  changed,  and  is  in  accordance 
with  what  constantly  passes  under  our  notice  in  the 
natural  government  of  God.  "  The  world,"  says  But- 
ler, "  is  a  constitution,  or  system,  whose  parts  have  a 
mutual  reference  to  each  other  ;  and  there  is  a  scheme 
of  things  gradually  carrying  on,  called  the  course  of 
nature,  to  the  carrying  on  of  which  God  has  appoint- 


LECTURE    III.  99 

ed  us  in  various  ways  to  contribute.  And  when,  in 
the  daily  course  of  natural  providence,  it  is  appointed 
that  innocent  people  should  suffer  for  the  faults  of  the 
guilty,  this  is  liable  to  the  very  same  objection  as  the 
instance  we  are  now  considering.  The  infinitely 
greater  importance  of  that  appointment  of  Christian- 
ity, which  is  objected  against,  does  not  hinder,  but  it 
may  be,  as  it  plainly  is,  an  api)ointment  of  the  very 
same  kind  as  that  which  the  world  affords  us  daily 
examples  of."  "  Men,  by  their  follies,  run  themselves 
into  extreme  distress  and  difficulties,  which  would  be 
absolutely  fatal  to  them  were  it  not  for  the  interposi- 
tion and  assistance  of  others.  God  commands,  by  the 
law  of  nature,  that  we  afford  them  this  assistance,  in 
many  cases  where  we  cannot  do  it  without  very 
great  pains,  and  labor,  and  suffering  to  ourselves. 
And  we  see  in  what  variety  of  ways  one  person's 
sufferings  contribute  to  the  relief  of  another,  and 
how  this  follows  from  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
nature  which  come  under  our  notice ;  and,  being  famil- 
iarized to  it,  men  are  not  shocked  with  it.  So  that 
the  reason  of  their  insisting  upon  objections  of  the 
foregoing  kind  against  the  satisfaction  of  Christ,  is, 
either  that  they  do  not  consider  God's  settled  and 
uniform  appointments  as  his  appointments  at  all,  or 
else  they  forget  that  vicarious  punishment  is  an  ap- 
pointment of  every  day's  experience."  As  therefore 
evils,  and  great  evils,  and  such  as  we  could  not  of 
ourselves  avoid,  are  so  often  averted  from  us,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  l)y  the  interposition  of  our  fellow- 
creatures,  so  it  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  provi- 
d(?nce  to  suppose  that  greater  evils,  otherwise  unavoid- 
able, might  be  averted  by  the  interposition  of  the  Son 
of  God. 


100  LECTURE   III. 

Ill  these,  and  other  particulars  which  might  be  men- 
tioned, we  find  an  analogy  between  Christianity  and 
nature,  such  as  to  show  that  they  came  from  the  same 
hand.  Here  is  a  test  —  its  general  correspondence  and 
harmony  ^^  ith  the  works  of  God  and  with  the  natural 
and  providential  government  of  God  —  which  no  false 
system  can  stand.  And  more  especially  remarkable 
is  it  that  Christianity  can  stand  this  test,  when  we 
consider  it  in  contrast  with  that  to  which  it  was  sub- 
jected at  its  first  appearance  in  the  world.  With  the 
presentation  of  this  contrast  I  shall  close  this  lecture. 

Christianity,  at  its  commencement,  recognized  the 
Jewish  religion  as  from  God ;  and  it  was  a  ground  of 
its  rejection,  by  the  Jews,  that  it  destroyed  their  law 
or  ritual.  Hence  it  became  necessary  —  and  this  was 
the  main  object  of  the  apostle  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews —  to  show  that  it  was  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  Jewish  religion  when  rightly  understood,  and  w^as, 
indeed,  necessary  to  its  completion.  Did  the  Jews 
insist  that  Christianity  had  no  priesthood  ?  The  apos- 
tle affirms  that  it  had  such  a  high  priest  as  became 
us,  "  who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from 
sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens."  Did  the 
Jews  affirm  that  Christianity  had  no  tabernacle  ?  The 
apostle  asserts  that  Christ  was  the  minister  "  of  the  true 
tabernacle,  which  the  Lord  pitched,  and  not  man  ; " 
that  he  had  "  not  entered  into  the  holy  places  made 
with  hands,  which  are  the  figures  of  the  true,  but 
into  heaven  itself."  Was  it  objected  that  Christianity 
had  no  altar  and  no  sacrifice  ?  The  apostle  affirms 
that  "  now,  once  in  the  end  of  the  world,  Christ  had 
appeared  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself." 
Thus  did  the  apostle  show  that  the  Jewish  religion, 


LECTURE    III,  101 

having  dropped  its  swaddling-clothes  of  rites  and 
ceremonies,  was  identical  in  spirit  with  Christianity. 
The  same  correspondence  was  either  attempted  to  be 
shown,  or  taken  for  granted,  by  all  the  New  Testament 
writers.  But  when  we  remember  that  Christianity  is 
a  purely  spiritual  religion,  encumbered  by  no  forms, 
and  that  the  Jewish  w^as  apparently  the  most  technical 
and  artificial  of  all  systems ;  when  we  remember  that 
there  was  not  only  to  be  preserved  a  correspondence 
with  the  types  and  ceremonies,  but  also  that  there  was 
to  be  the  fulfilment  of  many  prophecies,  we  may  see 
the  impossibility  that  any  human  art  should  construct  a 
system  so  identical  in  its  principles,  and  yet  so  diverse 
in  its  manifestations.  Nor,  indeed,  could  there  have 
been  any  motive  to  induce  such  an  attempt ;  lor,  be- 
sides its  inherent  difficulty,  Christianity  so  far  dropped 
all  the  pei'uliarities  of  the  Jews  as  to  forfeit  every 
hope  of  benefit  from  their  strong  exclusive  feelings, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  came  before  other  nations 
subject  to  all  the  odium  which  it  could  not  fail  to 
excite  as  based  on  the  Jewish  religion.  We  accord- 
ingly find  that,  in  point  of  fact,  it  was  equally  opposed 
by  Jews  and  Gentiles.  But  such  was  the  system  — 
exclusive,  typical,  ceremonial,  external,  magnificent, 
addressed  to  the  senses  —  between  which  and  Chris- 
tianity, simple,  universal,  without  form  or  pomp,  it 
was  necessary  to  show  a  correspondence ;  and  this  the 
apostle  Paul,  and  the  New  Testament  writers  gen- 
erally, did  show. 

How  different  the  test  to  which  Christianity  is  now 
put!  The  works  of  God  are  acknowledged  to  be 
from  him,  and,  as  now  understood,  how  simple  in  their 
laws,  how  complex  in  their  relations,  how  infinite  in 


102  LECTURE    III. 

their  extent!  And  can  the  same  system,  which  so 
perfectly  corresponded  with  the  narrow  system  of  the 
Jews,  correspond  equally  with  the  infinite  and  unre- 
stricted system  and  relations  of  God's  works  ?  Is  it 
possible  that  the  religion  once  embosomed  in  the  cere- 
monies of  an  ignorant  and  barbarous  people,  which 
received  its  expansion  and  completion  in  an  age  of  the 
greatest  ignorance  in  regard  to  physical  science,  should 
yet  harmonize,  in  its  disclosures  respecting  God  and 
his  government,  with  those  enlarged  conceptions  of 
his  nature  and  kingdom  which  we  now  possess  ? 
Could  Newton  step  from  the  study  of  the  heavens  to 
the  study  of  the  Bible,  and  feel  that  he  made  no  de- 
scent ?  It  is  even  so.  The  God  whom  the  Bible 
discloses,  and  the  moral  system  which  it  reveals,  lose 
nothing  when  compared  with  the  extent  of  nature,  or 
with  the  simplicity  and  majesty  of  her  laws ;  they 
seem  rather  worthy  to  be  enthroned  upon,  and  to  pre- 
side over,  such  an  amazing  domain.  The  material  uni- 
verse, if  not  infinite,  is  indefinite  in  extent.  We  see 
in  the  misty  spot  which,  in  a  serene  evening,  scarce 
discolors  the  deep  blue  of  the  sky,  a  distant  milky 
way,  like  that  which  encircles  our  heavens,  and  in  a 
small  projection  of  which  our  sun  is  situated.  We  see 
such  milky  ways  strown  in  profusion  over  the  heavens, 
each  containing  more  suns  than  we  can  number,  and 
all  these,  with  their  subordinate  systems,  we  see 
bound  together  by  a  law  as  efficient  as  it  is  simple 
and  unchangeable.  "They  stand  up  together  —  not 
one  foileth !  "  But  long  before  this  system  was  dis- 
covered, there  was  made  known,  in  the  Bible,  a  moral 
system  in  entire  correspondence  with  it.  We  see  at 
the  head  of  it,  and  presiding  in  high  authority  over  the 


LECTURE    III.  103 

whole,  one  infinite  and  "  only  wise  God,"  "  the  King 
eternal,  immortal,  invisible."  Of  the  systems  above 
us,  angelic  and  seraphic,  we  know  little  ;  but  we  see 
one  law,  simple,  efficient,  and  comprehensive  as  that 
of  gravitation,  —  the  law  of  love,  —  extending  its 
sway  over  the  whole  of  God's  dominions,  living  where 
he  lives,  embracing  every  moral  movement  in  its 
universal  authority,  and  producing  the  same  harmony, 
where  it  is  obeyed,  as  we  observe  in  the  movements 
of  nature.  We  find  here  none  of  the  puerilities  which 
dwarf  every  other  system.  The  sanctions  of  the  law, 
the  moral  attributes  revealed,  the  destinies  involved, 
the  prospects  opened  up,  —  all  take  hold  on  infinity, 
and  are  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  solemn  emotions 
excited  by  dwelling  upon  the  illimitable  works  of  God. 
^'  Deep  calleth  unto  deep." 


LECTURE   IV. 


COINCIDENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  WITH  NATURAL  RELIGION.— 
ITS  ADAPTATION  TO  THE  CONSCIENCE  AS  A  PERCEIVING 
POWER  —  PECULIAR  DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WAY  OF  ES- 
TABLISHING AND  MAINTAINING  A  PERFECT  STANDARD.— 
CHRISTIAN  MORALITY  INSEPARABLE  FROM  THE  CHRIS- 
TIAN   RELIGION. 

If,  as  was  attempted  in  the  last  lecture,  a  distinct 
analogy  can  be  shown  between  Christianity  and  the 
constitution  of  nature,  it  will  afford  a  strong  presump- 
tion that  they  both  came  from  the  same  hand.  But 
if  such  an  analogy  cannot  be  shown,  it  will  not  be 
conclusive  against  Christianity,  because  there  is  such  a 
disparity  between  the  material  and  the  spiritual  worlds, 
and  the  law^s  by  which  they  must  be  governed,  that  a 
revelation  concerning  one  might  be  possible,  which  yet 
should  not  seem  to  be  analogous  to  the  other. 

Not  so,  however,  with  the  argument  which  I  next 
adduce,  which  is  drawn  from  the  coincidence  of  Chris- 
tianity with  natural  religion.  Truth  is  one.  If  God 
has  made  a  revelation  in  one  mode,  it  must  coincide 
with  what  he  has  revealed  in  another.  If,  therefore, 
it  can  be  shown  that  Christianity  does  not  coincide 
with  the  well-authenticated  teachings  of  natural  re- 
ligion, it  will  be  conclusive  against  it.  Nature  is  from 
God.     Her  teachings  are  from  him,  and  I  should  regard 


LECTURE    IV.  105 

it  as  settling  the  question  against  any  thing  claiming 
to  bo  a  divine  revelation,  if  it  could  be  shown  to  con- 
tradict those  teachings.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
can  be  shown  that  Christianity  coincides  perfectly  with 
natural  religion,  and  indeed  teaches  the  only  perfect 
system  of  it  ever  known,  it  will  furnish  a  strong  argu- 
ment in  its  favor,  especially  when  we  consider  how 
the  religion  originated. 

By  natural  religion,  I  mean  that  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  duty  which  may  be  acquired  by  man  without 
a  revelation.  So  far  as  this  phrase  is  made  to  im- 
ply, as  it  sometimes  is,  that  revealed  religion  is  not 
natural,  it  is  objectionable;  for  I  conceive  that  the 
original  and  natural  state  of  man  was  one  of  direct 
communication  with  God,  and  even  now,  that  revela- 
tion is,  in  the  highest  sense,  natural.  It  ought  to  be 
used  simply  to  contradistinguish  the  knowledge,  which 
man  might  gain  from  nature,  from  that  which  revela- 
tion alone  teaches.  Of  natural  religion  the  ideas  of 
many  are  exceedingly  indefinite ;  but  that  the  defini- 
tion now  given  is  the  true  one  is  obvious,  because  it  is 
the  only  one  that  can  give  it  any  fixed  and  definite 
meaning.  It  cannot  mean  what  men  have  actually 
learned  from  nature,  for  this  has  varied  at  different 
times.  We  should  be  doing  injustice  to  the  teachings 
of  nature  if  we  were  to  call  that  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  duty,  which  has  been  attained  by  the  most 
enlightened  heathen,  the  whole  of  natural  religion. 
We  mean,  by  revealed  religion,  not  the  partial  and  per- 
verted views  of  any  sect,  but  that  system  which  God 
has  actually  revealed  in  the  Bible,  and  which  the  dili- 
gent and  candid  can  discover  to  be  there.  And  so  we 
mean,  by  natural  religion,  not  what  indolent,  and  biased, 

14 


106  LECTURE   IV. 

and  selfish  men  have  discovered,  but  that  which  nature 
actually  teaches,  and  which  a  diligent  and  candid  man 
could  discover  in  the  best  exercise  of  his  powers. 

If  this,  then,  be  natural  religion,  how  are  its  teach- 
ings made  knowai  ?  Its  mode  of  teaching  concern- 
ing God,  and  concerning  duty,  is  not  the  same.  Its 
teachings  concerning  God  and  his  attributes  are  made 
known  chiefly  by  reasoning  from  effects  to  their  cause. 
In  addition  to  this,  it  is  supposed  by  some  that  all 
men  have  certain  intuitive  and  necessary  convictions 
concerning  the  being  of  a  God.  But,  however  this 
may  be,  I  think  that  the  being  of  a  God,  and  the 
perfection  of  most  of  his  natural  attributes,  might  be 
inferred  from  nature  as  now  known.  That  nature 
and  Christianity  agree  in  their  teachings  concerning 
these  attributes,  I  have  already  shown ;  concerning 
the  moral  attributes  of  God,  it  is  more  difficult  to 
say  what  Nature  does  teach.  Certain  it  is  that  man 
has  never  so  learned  them,  from  her  light  alone,  as  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  any  rational  system  of  religious 
morality;  or  so  as  to  free  the  best  minds  from  great 
and  distressing  uncertainty. 

Her  mode  of  teaching  duty  is  by  the  tendencies  and 
results  of  different  actions,  and  courses  of  action.  We 
cannot  doubt  —  at  least  natural  religion  does  not  permit 
itself  to  doubt  —  that  the  object  of  God,  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  things,  and  in  the  relations  established  by  him, 
is  the  good  of  man.  If,  therefore,  we  see  any  course  of 
conduct  tending  to,  and  resulting  in,  the  good  of  man, 
individually  and  socially,  we  infer  that  it  is  according  to 
the  will  of  God.  If  we  see  a  course  of  conduct  tending 
to,  and  resulting  in,  the  unhappiness  of  the  individual 
and  of  society,  we  infer  that  it  is  contrary  to  his  will. 


LECTURE    IV.  107 

It  is  ill  this  way,  solely,  by  the  tendencies  and  results 
of  actions,  that  natural  religion  teaches  us  our  duty. 

But  it  must  be  conceded  that  this  mode  of  teaching, 
by  relations,  and  tendencies,  and  results,  is  not  well 
adapted  to  the  common  mind.  Even  to  comprehend 
these  relations  and  tendencies  fully,  much  more  to  trace 
them  out  originally,  requires  a  philosophic  mind  of  the 
highest  order.  In  some  cases,  indeed,  the  tendency  of 
actions,  or  courses  of  action,  is  obvious,  and  the  will  of 
God,  when  we  believe  in  his  being  and  perfections,  is 
thus  as  clearly  indicated  as  it  would  be  by  a  voice  from 
heaven ;  but,  in  others,  nothing  can  be  more  complex 
or  difficult  of  determination  even  after  an  experience 
somewhat  extended.  After  all  their  experience,  men 
are  still  divided  on  the  tendencies  and  results  of 
a  protective  tariff,  which  we  should  think  it  would 
be  perfectly  easy  to  test  to  the  satisfaction  of  all ; 
but  so  varied  are  the  interests  involved,  and  so  com- 
plex are  the  causes  at  work,  that  men  seem  now  no 
nearer  an  agreement  respecting  them  than  ever.  And 
if  this  is  so  on  a  subject  to  which  attention  is  stimu- 
lated by  immediate  interest,  and  which  appeals  to 
interest  alone,  how  much  more  must  it  be  so  with  those 
courses  of  action  in  which  moral  tendencies  and  results, 
so  obscure  and  tardy,  are  to  be  considered,  and  in 
which  the  strong  natural  feelings  of  the  heart  are  at 
work  to  bias  the  judgment  ?  Accordingly,  though  the 
teachings  of  nature  have  been  open  to  all,  and  have 
influenced  all  to  some  extent,  yet  it  has  been  only 
among  the  enlightened  few,  and  at  favored  periods, 
that  a  system  of  natural  religion  could  be  said  to  exist 
at  all,  or  that  its  teachings  have  exerted  any  consider- 
able influence.     Nor,  when  we  consider  how  complex 


108  LECTURE    IV. 

are  the  tendencies  of  actions,  and  how  remote  aro 
often  their  completed  results,  —  how  plausible  are 
some  courses  of  action,  which  yet  experience  shows 
to  be  injurious,  —  when  we  consider  the  eagerness 
of  passion,  the  blinding  power  of  selfishness,  how 
opposed  some  of  the  virtues  are  to  the  strongest  feel- 
ings of  men,  and  how  evil  practices,  when  once 
adopted,  perpetuate  themselves  and  become  fixed  by 
custom  and  association  in  the  community,  can  we 
wonder  that  nothing  like  a  perfect  system  of  natural 
religion  was  ever  discovered  by  man. 

Teaching  by  inference,  too,  without  any  immediate 
sanction  to  the  laws  she  could  establish,  and  witliout 
any  certain  knowledge  of  a  future  retribution,  there 
was  very  little  in  the  voice  of  natural  religion  to  arrest 
the  attention  of  man.  Accordingl}^,  we  find  that  her 
teachings  were  overlooked  and  disregarded  by  the  great 
mass  of  men.  They  have  been  entirely  drowned  and 
superseded  by  systems  of  idolatry,  and  superstition, 
and  fanaticism.  Far,  very  far,  therefore,  have  even 
the  wisest  heathen  been  from  listening  to  all  the  voices 
uttered  by  Nature,  from  reading  all  the  lessons  of 
wisdom  and  virtue  inscribed  on  her  pages. 

It  is,  indeed,  often  difficult  to  know  precisely  how 
much  we  ought  to  attribute  to  natural  religion.  It 
seems  certain  that  there  was  a  primitive  revelation 
communicating  the  idea  of  sacrifices,  and  modifying 
the  religious  and  moral  views  of  after  times :  rays  of 
light  from  the  Jewish  and  Christian  revelations  may 
have  been  more  widely  dispersed  than  we  suppose,  and 
many  things,  when  once  made  known,  so  commend 
themselves  to  reason  as  to  cause  it  to  be  felt  that  they 
might   have    been    discovered.      Hence    deists    have 


LECTURE    IV.  109 

claimed  several  principles  as  discovered  by  reason, 
as  the  pardon  of  sin  on  repentance,  which  are  unques- 
tionablv  due  to  revelation  alone.  But  whatever  natu- 
ral  religion  might  teach,  we  do  know  that  it  cannot 
teach  facts,  but  only  laws  and  tendencies.  However 
complete,  therefore,  we  may  suppose  it,  it  never  could 
have  taught  those  great  facts  which  lie  at  the  founda- 
tion of  a  system  of  mercy  ;  but  precisely  how  much  of 
duty  it  might  have  taught,  we  cannot  say.  We  know, 
also,  that  the  whole  of  the  system  never  was  reasoned 
out,  nor  is  there  the  least  reason  to  suppose  it  ever 
would  have  been. 

Now,  if  a  system  purporting  to  come  from  heaven, 
comprises  incidentally  and  naturally  a  perfect  system 
of  natural  religion,  gathering  up  all  the  obscure  voices 
that  Nature  utters,  tracing  out  the  indistinct  lines 
which  she  has  written ;  if  its  precepts  are  often  in 
opposition  to  the  common  judgment  and  to  the  strong 
feelings  of  men,  and  yet,  when  tested  by  tendencies 
and  results,  are  universally  found  to  be  sustained  by 
these  sanctions  of  natural  religion  ;  if  it  originated 
among  a  people  who  had  manifested  no  tendency  to 
philosophical  studies,  and  from  men  without  education, 
then  we  may  well  inquire,  "  Whence  had  these  men 
this  wisdom  ?  "  The  more  we  consider  the  extreme 
difticulty  of  tracing  out  these  tendencies,  the  minute  and 
comprehensive  knowledge  both  of  man  and  of  nature 
which  it  must  require  to  do  it  perfectly,  together  with 
the  blinding  influence  of  selfishness  and  passion  in  such 
inquiries,  the  more  highly  shall  we  estimate  the  mar- 
vellous sagacity  that  could  gather  up  and  imbody  every 
utterance  and  law  of  nature  as  declared  by  results. 

But  this  Christianity  has  actually  done.     Here  we 


110  LECTURE   IV. 

feel  that  we  stand  on  firm  ground.  At  this  point,  we 
challenge  the  scrutiny  of  the  infidel.  We  defy  him  to 
point  out  a  single  duty  even  whispered  by  nature, 
which  is  not  also  inculcated  in  the  New  Testament : 
we  defy  him  to  point  out  a  single  precept  of  Chris- 
tianity, a  single  course  of  action  inculcated  by  it, 
which  does  not,  in  proportion  as  it  is  followed,  receive 
the  sanction  of  natural  religion  as  declared  by  bene- 
ficial consequences.  In  fact,  moral  philosophy,  and 
political  economy,  and  the  science  of  politics,  the 
sciences  which  teach  men  the  rules  of  w^ell-being, 
w  hether  as  individuals,  or  as  communities,  are,  so  far 
as  they  are  sound,  but  experience  and  the  structure 
of  organized  nature  echoing  back  the  teachings  of 
Christianity.  What  principle  of  Christian  ethics  does 
moral  philosophy  now  presume  to  call  in  question  ? 
What  are  the  general  principles  of  political  economy, 
but  an  imperfect  application,  to  the  intercourse  of 
trading  communities,  of  those  rules  of  good  neigh- 
borhood, and  of  that  spirit  of  kindness,  which  Chris- 
tianity inculcates  ?  What  is  the  larger  part  of  political 
science  but  a  laborious  and  imperfect  mode  of  realizing 
those  results  in  society  which  would  flow  spontane- 
ously from  the  universal  prevalence  of  Christian  morals 
and  of  a  Christian  spirit  ?  Does  Christianity  com- 
mand us  to  be  temperate  ?  Science,  some  eighteen 
hundred  years  afterwards,  discovers  that  temperance 
alone  is  in  accordance  with  what  it  calls  the  natural 
laws ;  and  political  economy  reckons  up  the  loss  of 
labor  and  of  wealth  resulting  from  intemperance ;  and 
then,  after  an  untold  amount  of  suffering,  what  do  they 
do  but  echo  back  the  injunction,  "  Add  to  knowledge 
temperance."     Does  the  Bible  command  men  to  do  no 


LECTURE    IV.  Ill 

work  on  the  seventh  day,  and  to  let  then*  cattle  rest  ? 
It  is  now  beginning  to  be  discovered  that  this  is  in 
accordance  with  an  organic  law,  and  that,  thus  doing, 
both  men  and  animals  Mill  be  more  healthy,  and  will 
do  more  work.  And  so,  in  regard  to  every  course  that 
would  lead  men  to  unhappiness,  Christianity  has  stood 
Irom  the  first  at  the  entrance  of  the  paths,  and  uttered 
its  warning  cry.  The  nations  have  not  heard  it,  but 
have  rushed  by,  and  rushed  on,  till  they  have  reaped 
the  fruit  of  their  own  devices  in  the  corruption  of 
morals,  in  the  confusion  of  society  through  oppression 
and  misrule;  and  then  philosophy  has  condescended  to 
discover  these  evils,  and,  if  it  has  done  any  thing  for 
the  permanent  relief  of  society,  it  has  brought  it  back 
to  the  letter  or  spirit  of  the  gospel.  The  stern  teach- 
ings of  experience  are  making  it  manifest,  and  they 
will  continue  to  do  it  more  and  more,  that  the  Bible  is 
God's  statute-book  for  the  regulation  of  his  moral  crea- 
tures, and  that  the  laws  of  the  Bible  can  no  more  be 
violated  with  impunity  than  the  natural  law^s  of  God. 

If  Christianity  had  contained  all  the  teachings  of 
natiu-al  religion  known  at  that  day,  had  gathered  up 
all  that  the  great  and  wise  men  of  all  previous  time 
had  reasoned  out,  and  had  made  some  additions  of 
its  own,  it  would  have  been  most  extraordinary,  and 
would  have  required  for  its  production  the  greatest 
philosopher  of  the  age.  But  while  it  adopted  many 
things  that  were  then  taught,  and  rejected  nothing 
that  was  good,  it  completed  the  system  for  all  ages, 
leaving  nothing  for  philosophy  to  do  but  to  apply  and 
verify  its  principles.  And  in  doing  this,  it  promulga- 
ted many  things  that  were  entirely  contrary  to  all  the 
tastes  and  all  the  teachings  both  of  the  Jews  and  of 


112  LECTURE    IV. 

the  Gentiles.  Several  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Christian  morality — such  as,  if  adopted,  would  change 
the  face  of  society  —  were  original  with  Christ,  at  least 
in  their  practical  enforcement,  and  were  so  opposed 
to  every  thing  taught  among  the  Jews,  that  it  was 
with  great  difficulty  and  slowness  that  the  disciples 
themselves  were  made  to  understand  them,  or  to  con- 
ceive the  possibility  of  their  adoption.  Such,  for  ex- 
ample, were  its  condemnation  of  war,  and  private 
retaliation,  and  of  polygamy,  and  of  divorce  except  for 
a  single  cause ;  such  its  inculcation  of  purity  of  heart, 
of  meekness  and  humility,  of  the  love  of  enemies,  and 
of  universal  benevolence.  Such  was  its  estimation  of 
the  poor  as  standing  on  the  same  level  of  immortality 
with  the  rich ;  such  its  principle  of  self-denial  for  the 
*^  good  of  others,  its  supreme  regard  to  the  will  of  God, 
and  its  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  soul  rather  than 
those  of  the  body.  So  that  Christ  did  not  merely 
make  some  improvements,  such  as  a  great  genius 
might  be  supposed  to  do ;  nor  did  he,  as  Linnaeus  in 
botany,  discover  a  new  method  or  system,  which  gave 
him  a  clew  to  vast  stores  of  new  knowledge ;  but, 
standing  precisely  where  other  men  had  stood,  with 
no  education,  with  no  knowledge  of  Greek  or  Roman 
literature  in  the  ordinary  way,  he  adopted  all  that 
was  good  in  the  prevalent  systems,  but  still  intro- 
duced so  much  that  was  new,  that  the  system,  as  a 
whole,  was  not  only  perfect,  but  was  a  new  and  an 
original  system.  The  adoption  of  it  was  opposed  by 
every  selfish  principle,  and  seemed  to  require,  and 
often  did  require,  the  renunciation  of  life  itself.  But 
the  system  was  original  in  its  motives  as  well  as  in 
its  principles.     Many  were  led  to  adopt  it,  and  now 


LECTURE    IV.  113 

we  sec  that  it  is  tlirough  these  principles,  and  tliese 
alone,  that  individuals  and  society  can  be  made  happy, 
and  we  bow  with  humble  reverence  before  that  wis- 
don]  by  which  they  were  promulgated.  Let  these 
princi})les  be  adopted  and  carried  out,  and  we  have 
an  entirely  different  world  from  that  which  could  exist 
on  any  others  —  a  world  from  which  the  chief  causes 
of  unhappiness  are  removed. 

And  is  it  possible  that  any  human  sagacity  could 
have  adopted  so  much  that  was  new,  and  yet  have 
excluded  every  thing  that  was  injurious,  or  excessive,  or 
unbalanced?  "With  such  an  agent  as  man,"  says 
Bishop  Sumner,  "and  in  a  condition  so  complicated  as 
that  of  human  society,  it  is  no  less  dangerous  than  dif- 
ficult to  introduce  new  modes  of  conduct  and  new 
principles  of  action.  What  extensive  and  unforeseen 
results  have  sometimes  proceeded  from  a  single  statute, 
like  that  which  provides  for  the  support  of  the  poor  in 
England;  a  single  institution,  like  the  trial  by  jury; 
a  single  admission,  like  that  of  the  supremacy  of  the 
Roman  pontiff;  a  single  principle,  as  Luther's  ap- 
peal to  the  Bible  !  "*  And  yet,  here  is  a  new  system, 
involving  all  the  relations  of  human  society,  the  re- 
sults of  which  are  invariably  confirmed  by  those  of 
experience. 

The  only  possible  objection  to  the  morality  of  Chris- 
tianity is,  that  it  is  too  perfect ;  that,  though  it  may  fit 
men  for  heaven,  it  will  sulject  those  who  adopt  it  to 
injury  and  depredation  here.  But,  whatever  injury 
may  be  done  in  this  way  is  the  result,  not  of  Christi- 
anity, but  of  a  system  of  wickedness  which  it  forbids ; 


*  Sumner's  Evidences,  chap.  8. 
15 


114  LECTURE    IV. 

and  surely  it  ought  not  to  be  made  responsible  for  the 
results  of  disobeying  its  precepts.  It  claims  to  be  a 
universal  system.  Let  it  be  universally  obeyed,  and 
the  objection  vanishes. 

But  there  is  another  test  to  which  the  morality  of 
Christianity  may  be  brought ;  it  may  be  tested,  not 
only  by  its  tendencies,  but  by  the  conscience  of  man. 
The  utility  of  an  action  is  one  thing,  its  Tightness  is 
another.  The  understanding  judges  of  the  utility,  the 
conscience  of  the  rightness,  of  actions.  That  the  con- 
science is  not  an  infallible  test  in  all  cases,  must  be 
conceded.  It  is  liable  to  be  both  blunted  and  per- 
verted. Still,  with  the  light  we  now  have,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  determine,  respecting  any  system,  whether 
it  does  commend  itself  to  the  conscience  of  the  race. 
Let  it  stand  before  men  from  age  to  age,  so  as  to  come 
in  contact  with  the  conscience, — and  the  more  inti- 
mately, the  more  the  conscience  is  developed,  —  and  if 
it  is  found  to  teach  that  system,  and  those  rules  of  con- 
duct, in  favor  of  which  the  conscience  gives  its  verdict 
as  founded  in  the  eternal  rules  of  right,  then  either 
it  must  have  come  from  God,  or  it  must  be  precisely 
such  a  system  as  God  would  reveal,  —  for,  plainly, 
he  would  reveal  no  other. 

And  here  I  may  remark,  in  passing,  what  is  of  great 
importance,  that  Christianity  is  adapted  to  the  moral 
nature  of  man,  not  only  as  it  meets  the  claims  of  con- 
science as  a  discriminating  power,  but  as  it  acts  upon 
it,  quickening  it  and  bringing  it  to  perfection.  It  is 
contradistinguished  from  every  other  system  by  its  phil- 
osophic perception  that  the  full  activity  of  conscience 
is  necessary  to  moral  perfection,  and  by  its  direct 
efforts  and  tendency,  whether  we  regard  its  precepts 


LECTURE    IV.  115 

or  its  facts,  to  make  it  both  tender  and  discriminating. 
We  all  know  that  the  very  first  effect  of  Christianity, 
when  it  begins  to  act  practically  upon  the  mind,  is  to 
arouse  the  conscience  by  convincing  men  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  a  coming  judgment. 

Does,  then,  Christianity,  whether  we  consider  it  as 
a  system  of  doctrines  or  of  morals,  fully  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  conscience  as  a  discriminating  j^ower  ? 
We  say.  Yes.  We  say  that  there  is  not  a  single  prin- 
ciple of  moral  government,  not  a  single  course  of  action, 
not  a  temper  of  mind  which  it  a})proves,  which  an 
enlightened  conscience  does  not  also  approve  as  right, 
and  suitable  to  the  relations  in  which  man  is  placed. 
This,  so  far  as  the  morality  of  Christianity  is  con- 
cerned, I  may  safely  say,  because  it  is  conceded  by 
infidels.  There  is  no  candid  and  well-informed  man 
who  does  not  now  concede  that  the  morality  of  Chris- 
tianity, whether  tested  by  tendencies  or  by  conscience, 
is  perfect ;  that,  if  it  were  fully  carried  out,  it  would 
promote  happiness  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and  that 
it  is  the  only  system  that  can  do  so  to  the  same  extent. 

But,  in  meeting  this  test,  Christianity  has  had  a  task 
to  perform,  the  difficulty  of  which  is  seldom  appre- 
ciated. It  was  necessary  that  it  should  do  four  things, 
neither  of  which  has  ever  been  done  by  any  other 
system. 

And,  first,  it  was  necessary,  not  only  that  it  should 
assume  a  standard  absolutely  perfect,  —  which,  however 
far  from  any  thing  that  man  has  ever  done,  would  be 
comparatively  easy,  —  but  that  it  should  apply  a  perfect 
law  to  those  complex  and  infinitely  diversified  cases 
which  arise  when  law  is  violated.  A  perfect  moral 
government  of  perfect  beings  must  require  a  perfect 


116  LECTURE   IV. 

law  If  Christianity  is  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
conscience  that  has  once  recognized  such  a  law,  it  must 
utter  no  precept  opposed  to  it  —  nothing  opposed  to 
the  highest  standard  of  which  we  are  capable  of  con- 
ceiving. So  long  as  a  perfect  state  remained,  the 
simple  law  of  perfection  would  be  the  only  precept 
required,  and  it  would  be  comparatively  easy  to  obey 
it.  The  substance  of  the  perfect  law  of  God,  is  the 
love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbor,  and  where  this  law 
is  perfectly  observed,  nothing  can  occur  to  provoke 
ill-will.  Hence  there  is  in  heaven  no  precept  that, 
when  they  are  smitten  on  the  one  cheek,  they  shall 
turn  the  other  also.  But  Christianity  lays  down  a 
multitude  of  precepts  intended  to  regulate,  in  the 
spirit  of  a  perfect  rule,  the  intercourse  of  beings  in- 
clined to  inflict  upon  each  other  injury  and  depreda- 
tion. Does  it,  then,  in  order  to  meet  the  apparent 
exigencies  of  the  case,  to  conciliate  to  itself  human 
prejudice  or  passion,  ever,  in  any  of  these  subordinate 
precepts,  depart  from  its  high  requisitions,  or  abate  any 
thins;  from  the  inteo;ritv  of  its  original  and  fundamental 
principle  ?  We  know  the  opposition  it  encountered, 
and  that  the  true  ground  of  that  opposition  was  the 
high  standard  it  assumed.  If  it  had  been  of  the 
world,  the  world  would  have  loved  its  own.  There 
was,  then,  the  strongest  temptation,  if  not  to  Christ 
himself,  yet  to  those  who  succeeded  him,  to  dilute  this 
original  principle,  and  soften  down  their  requirements, 
lest  they  should  incur  the  charge  of  inculcating  an 
impracticable  morality.  Have  they  done  this?  In  no 
case  have  they  done  it.  There  are  no  Jesuitical  excep- 
tions or  reservations.  Not  only  was  Christ  consistent 
with  himself  in  his  minor  precepts,   but  the  apostles 


LECTURE    IV.  117 

were  in  every  instance  true  to  their  trust,  and  no 
stronger  proof  could  be  given,  not  only  of  integrity,  hut 
of  wisdom.  Nothing  but  the  most  })erfect  int(?grity 
could  have  adhered  to  the  law  in  all  its  breadth,  and 
nothing  but  a  divine  wisdom  could  have  accommodated 
it  to  the  very  peculiar  circumstances  of  man  in  this 
world.  The  minor  precepts  of  Christianity  are  all 
consistent  with  its  fundamental  and  its    perfect    law. 

And  here  I  may  remark  that  not  only  docs  Chris- 
tianity sustain  the  authority  of  a  j)erlect  law,  but,  in 
the  line  of  conduct  it  lays  dow  n  towards  the  injurious, 
it  has  adopted  the  very  principle  which,  according  to 
the  laws  of  mental  operation  discovered  in  later  times, 
must  tend  in  the  greatest  possible  degree  to  diminish 
injury.  It  is  a  well-ascertained  fact,  that  the  most 
powerful  mode  of  inculcating  and  exciting  any  quality, 
or  temper,  is  the  distinct  and  vivid  manifestation  of 
that  temper.  The  manifestation  of  anger  towards 
another  excites  anger  in  him  ;  and  the  manifestation 
of  a  meek  and  forgiving  spirit  has  a  tendency  to  dis- 
arm hostility,  and  does  all  that  can  be  done  to  prevent 
ill-feeling.  If,  therefore,  a  man  were  to  inquire  how, 
according  to  principles  of  mental  philosophy  alone, 
he  could  do  most  to  banish  the  malignant  and  selfish 
passions  from  the  earth,  and  make  it  like  heaven,  he 
would  be  obliged  to  adopt  the  very  course  prescribed 
by  the  New  Testament. 

But,  secondly,  Christianity,  as  I  have  already  shown, 
agrees  with  nature,  so  far  as  that  goes,  in  its  teachings 
concerning  the  natural  attributes  of  God,  and  con- 
cerning morality  ;  but  it  reveals  some  things  concern- 
ing God  peculiar  to  itself;  and  it  imposes  upon  man 
some  new  duties.     The  question,  then,   is,   whether 


118  LECTURE    IV. 

the  additionai  revelations  concerning  God  are  in  keep- 
ing with  those  of  nature,  and  whether  they  satisfy 
the  demands  of  the  conscience  for  a  perfect  Being, 
in  the  moral  attributes  which  they  reveal ;  and,  also, 
whether  the  duties  it  imposes  are  agreeable  to  reason 
and  conscience.  So  far  as  Christianity  coincides  with 
nature,  I  take  it  for  granted  that  it  satisfies  the  de- 
mands of  the  conscience.  Does  it  do  this  equally 
when  it  passes  on  beyond  nature  to  those  independ- 
ent and  fuller  revelations  which  it  makes  of  God  and 
of  duty,  so  tliat-the  transition  from  the  one  to  the 
pjther  -  is '  only  as  that  from  the  dim  twilight  to  the 
"-.  -full  blaze  of  day?  We  know  something  of  God  from 
^:y  nature,  just  as  we   know  something  of  the   heavens 

from  the  naked  eye.  Are,  then,  the  revelations  of 
Christianity  respecting  him  in  keeping  with  those  of 
nature,  only  more  imposing  and  magnificent,  just  as 
the  revelations  of  the  telescope  concerning  the  heav- 
ens are  in  keeping  with  those  of  the  naked  eye, 
while  they  so  far  transcend  them  ? 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  contemplate  God  as  in- 
vested with  all  those  paternal  and  perfect  moral  attri- 
butes with  which  Christianity  clothes  him,  —  to  see 
him  in  that  amazing  attitude  of  holy  sovereignty  and 
paternal  goodness  in  which  it  represents  him,  —  that 
this  perfect  combination  of  moral  attributes,  this  com- 
pleteness of  moral  character,  in  the  Sovereign  of  the 
universe,  such  that  we  should  as  soon  think  of  adding 
to  infinite  space  as  of  adding  any  thing  to  its  perfection, 
seems  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  we  do  not  remember 
how  difficult  it  must  have  been  to  carry  out  the  frag- 
mentary revelation  of  nature  to  its  absolute  complete- 
ness, and  to  combine  with  those  tremendous  natural 


LECTURE  IV.  119 

attributes,  shadowed  forth  in  tlic  agencies  of  nature, 
the  benignity  and  mercy,  the  Justice  and  compassion, 
that  form  the  character  of  our  Father  in  heaven.  We 
forget  that  Nature  has  her  terrilic  and  fearful  aspects, 
her  barren  wastes,  her  regions  of  wild  disorder,  her 
lightning  and  thunder,  her  tornadoes  and  earthquakes, 
and  her  breath  of  pestilence,  as  well  as  her  glad 
voices,  and  her  quiet  sunshine  that  rests  like  a  smile 
on  the  face  of  creation,  and  her  waving  harvests,  — 
and  that  it  is  by  her  terrific  aspects  that  men  are  most 
impressed,  and  that  hence  they  have  been  led  to  form 
gloomy  ideas  of  God,  and  not  unfrequently  to  imper- 
sonate the  principle  of  evil  into  a  sovereign  divinity 
whose  wrath  they  were  chiefly  desirous  of  propitiating. 
We  forget  the  distressing  perplexity  in  which  the 
greatest  and  best  men  of  antiquity  were  respecting 
the  moral  attributes  of  God,  and  the  important  fact 
that  theij  never  so  conceived  of  him  as  to  make  the  love 
of  God  a  duty.  All  this,  I  say,  we  seem  to  forget,  and 
to  think  it  was  a  matter  of  course  that  Christianity 
should  thus  carry  out,  into  all  conceivable  perfection, 
the  dim  revelations  of  nature  concerning  God.  This 
indeed  it  does  with  such  ease,  so  incidentally,  so  lit- 
tle with  the  pride  or  in  the  forms  of  philosophic  dis- 
quisition, that  we  scarcely  give  it  credit  for  what  it 
does,  though  all  this  but  renders  it  the  more  remarka- 
ble. It  is  related  of  a  palace  built  by  genii,  that  all 
the  treasures  of  a  great  monarch  were  inadequate  to 
complete  one  of  the  windows  purposely  left  unfinished. 
And  when  I  see  how  fragmentary  the  structure  of 
religious  knowledge  was  left  by  nature,  —  when  I  see 
how  inadequate  all  the  labors  of  man  had  proved  for 
its  completion,  —  and  when  I  look  at  the  glorious  and 


120  LECTURE    IV. 

completed  dome  reared  by  Christianity,  I  cannot  but 
feel  that  other  than  human  hands  have  been  employed 
in  the  structure.  The  first  and  fundamental  condition 
of  a  perfect  religion  —  of  one  which  can  do  all  for 
the  moral  powers  that  can  be  done  for  them  —  is  a 
perfect  character  in  the  object  of  worship.  The  mind 
is  naturally  assimilated  to  the  object  which  it  contem- 
plates with  delight,  and  especially  which  it  worships ; 
and  it  is  demonstrable,  on  principles  of  reason,  that, 
unless  the  character  of  the  God  of  Christianity  is 
absolutely  perfect,  then  that  character  not  only  will 
not  meet  the  demands  of  the  conscience,  but  can  never 
do  for  man,  in  the  elevation  and  perfection  of  his  char- 
acter, all  that  could  be  done  for  him.  But,  the  more 
we  dwell  on  it,  the  more  we  shall  see  that  the  charac- 
ter of  the  God  of  the  Bible  is  absolutely  perfect,  and 
therefore,  either  the  God  of  Christianity  is  the  true 
God,  or  there  can  be  no  being  who  shall  be  God  to 
us  —  none  who  shall  meet  that  conception  of  absolute 
perfection  which  w^e  form  in  our  minds,  and  feel  that 
we  must  transfer  to  him. 

Of  the  new  duties  demanded  by  Christianity,  it  may 
be  said  that  they  are  in  no  case  arbitrary  and  ca- 
pricious, but  are  exactly  those  which  grow  out  of  the 
new  relations  in  which  we  are  placed  by  Christianity, 
and  which  the  conscience  cannot  but  approve  the 
moment  these  relations  are  perceived.  Thus,  if  God 
has  shown  us  new  evidence  of  love  through  Chris- 
tianity, then  are  we  under  new  obligations  of  gratitude 
to  him.  If  Christ  has  signally  interposed  in  our  be- 
half, then  we  are  under  obligations  to  him  in  propor- 
tion to  what  he  has  done  for  us.  If  we  are  intrusted 
by  Christianity  with  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  then 


LECTURE    IV.  121 

we  are  under  obligation  to  j)ublisli  them  to  all 
people. 

Thus,  whether  we  consider  the  additional  revelation 
of  Christianity  respecting  God  or  duty,  we  find  that 
it  perfectly  meets  the  demands  of  an  enlightened 
conscience. 

But  in  neither  of  the  particidars  just  mentioned  do 
we  find  the  most  difficult  task  which  Christianity  had 
to  perform,  if  it  would  meet  the  demands  of  conscience. 
Its  professed  object  was  to  introduce  a  system  of  len- 
ity. And  was  it  possible  it  should  do  this,  and  still 
cause  that  perfect  law,  which,  if  it  meet  the  demands 
of  the  conscience,  it  must  sustain,  to  appear  as  strict 
and  binding  as  if  no  such  system  had  been  introduced? 
This  it  must  do  if  it  meets  the  demands  of  the  con- 
science ;  for,  when  once  that  has  obtained  the  concep- 
tion of  absolute  moral  perfection,  nothing  can  satisfy  it 
which  would  weaken  the  obligation  of  that.  Here  is 
a  fundamental  difficulty.  Whatever  Christianity  may 
profess,  does  not  lenity,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  tend 
to  weaken  the  sanctions  of  law,  and  to  detract  from  its 
binding  force  ?  Is  it  possible  to  conceive  of  a  law- 
giver who  remits  the  just  penalty  of  crime,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  manifests  the  same  abhorrence  of  it,  and 
the  same  anxiety  to  guard  against  its  commission,  as 
he  would  have  done  if  he  had  caused  the  penalty  to 
be  executed?  All  good  men  agree  in  the  essential 
principle,  that  the  full  authority  of  God's  law  must  be 
sustained.  But  how  can  this  be  done  while  pardon  is 
granted  ?  This  is  a  difficulty  which  if  Christianity 
has  not  removed,  it  is  not  because  it  has  not  perceived 
it,  and  made  the  attempt.  "  That  he  might  be  just, 
and  the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus,"  is 

16 


122  LECTURE    IV. 

declared  by  the  apostle  to  be  the  great  object  of  all 
that  had  been  done  by  God  in  introducing  the  Chris- 
tian revelation.  This  is  the  very  centre  and  soul  of 
Christianity  ;  and,  if  it  has  not  accomplished  this,  then 
has  it  failed  of  the  very  end  proposed  by  itself.  This 
is  a  question  which  is  not  stated  even,  in  any  false 
religion,  because  that  all -important  conception  of  the 
holiness  of  God,  out  of  which  it  grows,  has  not  been 
sufficiently  distinct  to  produce  it.  If  men  have  offered 
sacrifices,  and  submitted  to  torture,  it  has  been  under 
the  impression  that  God  might  be  moved  like  an  earthly 
monarch,  and  never  under  the  idea  of  him  as  having  an 
impartial  and  inflexible  adherence  to  rectitude,  or  with 
the  purpose  of  bringing  forgiveness  within  the  range 
of  any  great  principle.  But  this  question  a  religion 
that  would  deal  fairly  with  an  enlightened  mind  must 
meet.  This  problem  it  must  solve.  Standing  where 
I  do,  it  would  not  become  me  to  state  the  method  in 
which  I  suppose  Christianity  has  solved  this  problem. 
I  intend  to  enter  upon  no  disputed  doctrines.  I 
take  it  for  granted  that  all  Christians  suppose  the 
mercy  of  God  to  be  entirely  compatible  with  his 
perfect  holiness.  Let  individuals  adopt  what  views 
they  choose  in  respect  to  the  method  in  which  this  is 
accomplished.  I  wish  solely  to  draw  attention  to  the 
difficulty  of  the  problem,  to  the  fact  that  this  difficulty 
was  fully  understood  by  the  original  writers  on  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  they  profess  to  have  solved  it.  If 
they  have  done  this,  then  how  divine  the  wisdom 
which  could  so  perfectly  meet  the  demands  of  the 
most  enlightened  conscience  by  sustaining  law,  and  at 
the  same  time  provide  for  the  wants  of  the  guilty! 
Problems  so  high,  human  systems  do  not  attempt  to 


LECTURE    IV.  123 

solve ;  wisdom  so  divine  as   must  be  involved  in  the 
solution  of  this,   they  do  not^  manifest. 

There  is  one  thing  more  ^^hich  it  behoved  Chris- 
tianity to  do,  if  it  would  meet  the  demands  of 
conscience  as  a  discriminating  power.  It  was,  to  sat- 
isfy our  natural  sense  of  justice  with  reference  to 
the  disorders  of  this  present  world.  These  disorders, 
in  the  height  to  which  they  have  risen,  have  always 
presented  a  great  moral  enigma  to  those  who  have 
reasoned  concerning  the  providence  and  moral  govern- 
ment of  God.  This  was  strongly  felt  and  strongly 
stated  as  long  ago  as  the  time  of  Job.  "Some,"  says 
he,  "  remove  the  landmarks ;  they  violently  take 
away  flocks,  and  feed  thereof.  They  drive  away  the 
ass  of  the  fatherless.  They  take  the  widow's  ox  for 
a  pledge.  They  cause  the  naked  to  lodge  without 
clothing,  that  they  have  no  covering  in  the  cold. 
They  pluck  the  fatherless  from  the  breast,  and  take  a 
pledge  of  the  poor.  Men  groan  from  out  of  the  city, 
and  the  soul  of  the  wounded  crieth  out:  yet  God  layeth 
not  folly  to  them."  "  Wherefore  do  the  wicked  live, 
become  old,  yea,  are  mighty  in  power  ?  Their  seed 
is  established  in  their  sight  with  them,  and  their  off- 
spring before  their  eyes.  They  spend  their  days  in 
wealth,  and  in  a  moment  go  down  to  the  grave." 
"^The  earth,"  says  he,  "is  given  into  the  hand  of  the 
wicked ;  he  covereth  the  faces  of  the  judges  thereof; 
if  not,"  —  as  much  as  to  say,  this  must  be  allowed 
whether  we  can  reconcile  it  to  the  righteous  govern- 
ment of  God  or  not,  —  "  if  not,  where  and  who  is 
he  ?  "  Thus  was  this  wise  and  good  man  perplexed 
before  the  light  of  Christianity.  The  psalmist  found 
no  relief  under  the  same  difficulty  until  he  went  to  the 


124  LECTURE    IV. 

sanctuary  of  God,  and  there  saw  the  end  of  the 
wicked.  Solomon,  too,  says,  "  Moreover  I  saw  under 
the  sun  the  place  of  judgment,  that  wickedness  was 
there ;  and  the  place  of  righteousness,  that  iniquity  was 
there.  I  said  in  mine  heart "  —  then  he  said,  when 
he  saw^  this,  as  furnishing  the  only  solution  of  the 
difficulty  —  "God  shall  judge  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked."  Nor  does  the  picture  assume  a  brighter  hue 
as  we  come  down  the  ages.  History  is  full  of  multi- 
jDlied,  and  aggravated,  and  unredressed  wrongs,  in- 
flicted by  man  upon  man.  Look  at  the  slave-trade. , 
Look  at  slavery  as  it  exists  now.  Look  at  the  peas- 
antry of  Europe.  Look  at  Poland.  Or,  if  we  turn 
from  the  contemplation  of  open  and  high-handed 
violence,  to  consider  the  triumphs  of  injustice ;  the 
success  of  fraud  ;  the  spoliations  and  heartless  atroci- 
ties which  are  effected  under  the  forms  of  law  ;  the 
wrongs,  and  cruelties,  and  petty  tyrannies,  that  are  ex- 
ercised in  families,  and  imbitter  the  lives  of  thousands, 
our  difficulties  will  not  be  diminished.  Surely,  to 
a  thoughtful  man,  without  revelation,  this  world  must 
present  a  most  perplexing  and  discouraging  spectacle. 
He  must  see  that  there  are  injuries  for  which  there 
is  no  redress  upon  earth,  questions  unsettled  for  which 
there  is  no  adjudication  here  ;  and,  while  he  has 
no  satisfactory  evidence  that  a  time  of  adjudication 
will  ever  come,  he  must  feel  that  a  violence  is  done  to 
his  moral  nature  if  these  questions  are  to  be  cut  short 
by  death,  and  left  unsettled  forever.  To  this  state  of 
perplexity,  so  natural  and  so  universal,  Christianity 
furnishes  complete  relief.  It  gives  us  the  most  positive 
assurance  that  these  questions  shall  be  carried  up  to 
an    impartial   tribunal.     It   makes   known   to   us  the 


LECTURE   IV.  12S 

judge  and  the  rules  of  the  proceedings  of  that  great 
"day  of  the  restitution  of  all  things;"  —  yes,  "the 
restitution  of  all  things."  When  it  is  known  that  this 
is  to  be,  then  the  perplexed  and  agonized  heart  is  set 
at  rest.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  there  is  felt  to  be  a 
congruity  between  the  course  of  events,  as  they  shall 
ultimately  terminate,  and  our  moral  frame  and  the  de- 
mands of  the  conscience  are  fully  met. 

What  I  would  say,  then,  is,  that  Christianity  com- 
mends itself  to  a  conscience  fully  enlightened,  not 
only  in   its   morality,  but   by  uniformly  adhering   to  a  ^ 

perfect  standard  of  rectitude,  and  under  circumstances 
which,  to  mere  human  wisdom,  would  seem  to  be 
incompatible  with  it.  Man  is  capable  of  forming  the 
idea  of  moral  perfection ;  and,  having  once  formed  it, 
his  moral  nature  requires  that  a  religion  claiming  to 
come  from  God  should  neither  command  nor  reveal 
any  thing  incompatible  with  that  idea.  The  necessity 
of  meeting  this  requisition,  whether  man  is  regarded 
as  possessed  of  discriminating  powers  simply,  or  as  a 
being  to  be  elevated  and  assimilated  to  something 
higher  and  better  than  himself,  Christianity,  and  that 
alone,  has  fully  perceived ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  it  was 
this  very  necessity  which  created  the  difficulty  in  each 
of  the  cases  that  I  have  stated.  In  the  first  case,  it 
was  necessary  that  precepts  should  be  laid  down  which 
should  be  compatible  both  with  a  perfect  law,  and  with 
the  state  of  things  in  this  world,  so  that  the  conduct 
required  should  be  neither  wrong  nor  impracticable. 
Who  but  C^^rist  and  his  followers  has  ever  done  this  ? 
Who  else  has  ever  attempted  it  without  conceding 
much  to  human  weakness  and  frailty?  In  the  second 
case,  the  difficulty  lay  in  carrying  out  the  moral  char- 


/ 


126  LECTURE   IV. 

acter  of  God,  to  the  perfection  required  by  the  con 
science,  from  the  imperfect  and  often  seemingly  con- 
tradictory revelations  of  nature.  In  the  third  case,  it 
consisted  in  reconciling  a  system  of  lenity  with  the 
claims  of  this  same  perfect  standard  ;  and,  in  the  fourth 
case,  in  revealing  a  method  by  which,  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  God,  the  disorders  of  this  world  are  recon- 
ciled with  the  present  existence  and  ultimate  triumph 
of  a  perfect  law.  In  each  of  these  cases,  therefore,  the 
principle  is  the  same.  That  there  must  be  a  perfect 
standard  established  and  maintained,  both  in  the  char- 
acter and  law  of  God,  is  settled.  That  is  taken  for 
granted ;  and  the  difficulty  lay  in  reconciling  other 
things  with  that,  which  apparently  only  a  divine  wis- 
dom could  have  reconciled. 

To  my  mind,  the  argument  from  these  cases  is  of 
great  weight.  But,  leaving  them  aside,  I  lay  my  finger 
upon  the  morality  of  Christianity,  whether  tested  by 
consequences  or  by  the  conscience,  and  I  claim  that  it 
is  perfect  —  "that  the  virtues  inculcated  in  the  gospel 
are  the  only  virtues  which  we  can  imagine  a  heavenly 
teacher  to  inculcate."  Is,  then,  this  claim  allowed? 
It  has  been  allowed  by  infidels,  and  I  feel  confident  it 
must  be  by  every  candid  man.  But  if  so,  who  does 
not  see  that  a  perfect  system  of  duty  must  come  from 
God  ?  Who  does  not  see  the  absurdity  of  supposing 
that  it  should  be  originated  in  connection  with  a  sys- 
tem  of  falsehood   and  imposture  ? 

And  this  morality  is  the  more  remarkable^^jl^ause 
the  great  and  primary  object  of  Christiantty  ^inot  to 
regulate  the  relations  of  earthly  society,  or  to  provide 
for  the  welfare  of  man  in  this  life.  It  is  to  bring  "  life 
and  immortality  to  light,"  and  to  prepare  men  for  that 


LECTURE    IV.  127 

immortality.  In  its  spirit,  we  must  indeed  suppose 
this  morality  to  belong  to  the  heavenly  state  ;  but  in 
many  of  the  forms  of  its  manifestation,  it  is  but  the 
earthly  garment  of  Christianity  —  but  as  the  mantle  of 
the  ascending  prophet,  which  fell  from  him  when  he 
was  translated.  Great,  then,  as  is  the  work,  and  the 
blessing  of  a  perfect  system  of  morality,  it  is  only 
incidental ;  it  is  only  as  a  branch  from  the  maili  stem 
of  that  species  of  the  palm-tree  well  known  in  India, 
which  still  passes  on  upward,  and  produces  its  fruit 
from  a  single  magnificent  blossom  at  the  top.  This 
morality  is  an  infinite  blessing  ;  it  is  the  fruit  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  but  it  is  borne,  as  it  were,  only  by  its  lower 
branches,  while  it  is  the  great  doctrine  of  salvation, 
of  "  life  and  immortality  brought  to  light,"  that  ex- 
pands at  its  top,  and  sheds  its  fragrance  over  the 
nations. 

Men,  then,  may  say  \A^iat  they  please  of  the  power 
of  the  human  mind  to  make  discoveries  in  moral 
science  ;  but  to  me  it  seems  that  to  suppose  a  system 
like  this,  thus  perfectly  coinciding  with  all  the  teach- 
ings of  natural  religion  and  with  the  requisitions  of 
conscience,  to  have  originated  with  peasants  and  fish- 
ermen of  Galilee,  requires  nothing  less  than  the  capa- 
cious credulity  of  an  infidel. 

But  a  single  question  more  arises  on  this  subject. 
May  not  a  man  adopt  the  morality  taught  by  Chris- 
tianity, and  reject  the  religion  ?  It  is  very  conceivable 
that  a  system  of  morality  and  of  religion  should  coexist, 
and  yet  not  be  necessarily  connected.  The*  morality 
may  be  correct,  as  was  much  of  that  taught  by  Cicero  in 
his  book  De  Officiis,  and  yet  the  religion  with  wiiich  it 


128  LECTURE    IV. 

is  associated  maj  be  entirely  false.  The  precepts  may 
have  no  connection  with  the  facts,  or  doctrines,  or  rites, 
of  the  religion.  This  has  been  the  case  with  all  false 
religions.  There  has  been  no  tendency  in  the  doc- 
trines or  facts  of  the  religion  to  form  men  to  the  prac- 
tice of  moral  virtue.  The  morality  has  often  been 
better  than  the  religion,  and  might  be  easily  separated 
from  if.  And  if  this  has  been  so  with  other  religions, 
why  may  it  not  be  so  with  Christianity  ?  This  ques- 
tion I  am  bound  to  notice,  because  infidels  have  not 
been  backward  in  conceding  to  the  morality  of  Chris- 
tianity all  that  we  ask.  They  speak  in  terms  of  high 
eulogy  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  they  eagerly  claim 
whatever  they  can  of  its  peculiar  doctrines  as  the 
teachings  of  nature,  and  seem  to  perceive  no  difficulty 
even  in  admitting  that  the  moralit}^  is  perfect,  and  yet 
rejecting  the  religion.  The  doctrines  of  Christianity 
are  no  less  peculiar  and  striking  than  its  morality,  and 
the  question  is,  whether  we  can  logically,  or  rationally, 
receive  the  morality  and  reject  the  doctrines.  I  think 
not ;  because, 

First,  it  seems  to  me,  as  I  have  already  attempted  to 
show,  that  man  could  not  have  originated  such  a  sys- 
tem of  morals.  When  I  stand  between  two  cliifs  rent 
asunder  by  a  convulsion  of  nature,  I  do  not  need  to  be 
told  that  that  passage  was  not  opened  by  a  human  arm. 
When  I  see  the  bow  spanning  the  heavens,  I  do  not 
need  to  be  told  that  no  human  hand  has  bended  it. 
So,  when  I  compare  such  a  system  with  the  intellectual 
and  moral  power  of  man,  and  especially  with  all  the 
attempts  he  has  actually  made,  I  feel  that  there  is  an 
utter  disparity  between  them.  But  no  one  who  admits 
the  morality  to  be  of  divine  origin,  will  hesitate  to 
admit  that  the  rebgion  is  also. 


LECTURE    IV.  129 

But,  secondly,  it  is  incredible  and  contradictory, 
contrary  to  all  the  known  laws  of  mind,  to  suppose 
that  men  whose  moral  discrimination  and  susceptibil- 
ities were  so  acute  —  who  could  originate  a  system  so 
pure,  so  elevated,  so  utterly  opposed  to  all  falsehood  — 
should,  without  reason  or  motive  that  we  can  see, 
deliberately  attempt  to  deceive  mankind  concerning 
their  highest  interests.  If  they  had  a  system  of  mo- 
rality to  comnmnicate,  why  did  they  not,  like  honest 
men,  communicate  it  as  an  abstract  system,  unencum- 
bered with  doctrines  which  were,  and  which  they 
must  have  foreseen  would  be,  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling- 
block  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness  ?  Why  did  they 
connect  with  it  a  narrative  of  facts  which*,  if  false, 
might  have  been  easily  disproved  ?  How  much  more 
safe  and  dignified  to  have  delivered  the  system. in  its 
abstract  form,  after  the  manner  of  the  philosophers  ! 
The  combination  of  folly  and  wickedness,  which  such 
a  course  would  involve,  with  those  high  qualities,  both 
of  the  intellect  and  of  the  heart,  in  which  alone  such 
a  system  could  have  originated,  seems  to  me  impos- 
sible. 

Thirdly,  the  intimate  connection  which  ought  to 
exist,  and  which  naturally  does  exist,  between  moral- 
ity and  religion,  forbids  such  a  supposition.  There* 
are  those,  I  know,  who  say  that  the  foundations  of 
morality  in  man  are  different  from  those  of  religion ; 
and  I  am  not  disposed  to  deny  that  certain  faculties 
are  called  into  high  activity,  in  religion,  which  are 
excited  slightly,  if  at  all,  in  the  duties  of  morality^ 
Still,  so  far  as  duty  is  concerned,  which  is  the  whole 
of  morality,  and  which  is  the  central  and  indispen- 
sable part  of  any  true   religion,  they  both  appeal  to 

17 


130  LECTURE  IV. 

the  same  conscience,  and  to  that  alone.  Dependmg 
thus  upon  a  common  faculty,  a  true  religion  and  a 
true  morality  must  have  an  essential  unity,  and  I 
greatly  doubt  whether  a  perfect  system  of  one  can  be 
associated  with  a  false  system  of  the  other. 

It  is  certain  that  a  perfect  religion  must  comprise 
a  perfect  morality,  because  a  perfect  religion  must 
include  every  religious  duty,  and  we  are  under  obliga- 
tions to  perform  our  duty  to  our  fellow-creatures,  not 
simply  from  our  relations  to  them,  but  because  the 
performance  of  that  duty  is  the  will  of  God.  Hence 
every  moral  duty  is,  and  must  be,  also  binding  as  a 
religious  duty ;  and  hence  no  man  can  be  truly  reli- 
gious further  than  he  is  moral.  But  if  the  duties  of 
a  perfect  religion  would  include  those  of  morality, 
the  duties  of  a  perfect  morality  would  not,  it  may  be 
said,  include  those  of  religion.  They  would  not,  in 
the  same  sense.  Still,  the  duties  of  morality  being 
recognized  by  the  same  faculty  as  those  of  religion, 
and  in  the  same  way,  and  the  principle  of  duty  being 
one,  w^e  cannot  conceive  of  a  truly  moral  man,  one 
who  performs  his  duties  as  such,  who  is  not  also 
religious  so  far  as  his  known  relations  to  God  would 
teach  him  his  duty.  The  conscience,  as  such,  must 
respond  to  the  call  of  duty  wherever  that  call  is  heard. 
Nor  can  we  conceive  that  a  perfect  system  of  moral 
duty  should  coalesce  and  harmonize  with  the  religious 
duty  taught  by  a  system  of  falsehood,  such  as  the 
Christian  religion  must  be  if  it  did  not  come  from 
God.  But,  in  the  Christian  system,  the  moral  and 
the  religious  duties  do  evidently  thus  coalesce  and 
form  a  part  of  one  independent  whole.  The  reli- 
gious morality  of  the  Bible,  if  I   may  call  it  so,  that 


LECTURE    IV-  131 

which  relates  to  God,  is  quite  as  extraordinary  as  that 
which  relates  to  man  ;  it  is  quite  as  far  elevated  above 
that  of  any  other  system ;  and  these,  when  united 
and  interwoven  as  they  are  in  the  Bible,  form  one 
whole,  perfect  and  complete.  Besides,  it  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  a  perfect  system  of  morality  could 
be  laid  down,  even  in  an  abstract  or  tabular  form,  in 
connection  with  a  false  religion,  because  many  of  our 
duties  to  our  fellow-men,  as  well  as  the  motives  by 
which  they  are  enforced,  arise  out  of  our  relations 
to  tJiem  as  the  children  of  a  common  parent,  and  a 
knowledge  of  tiiese  relations  can  come  only  from  a 
true  religion.  If,  therefore,  the  morality  is  what  we 
claim  it  to  be,  the  religion  must  also  be  true. 

But  I  observe,  once  more,  that  the  peculiar  morality 
of  Christianity  so  grows  out  of  its  facts  and  doctrines, 
and  so  derives  from  them  its  power,  that  it  cannot  be 
separated  from  them.  It  does  not  lie  in  the  religion 
as  the  gem  does  in  the  rock,  but  is  an  organized  part 
of  one  vital  whole.  It  is  as  the  hands  and  the  feet  to 
the  heart  and  the  brain.  And  here  we  find  incident- 
ally a  strong  evidence  of  the  wisdom  and  divine  origin 
of  Christianity.  What  but  a  divine  wisdom  could 
cause  all  the  great  doctrines  and  facts  of  such  a  re- 
ligion to  bear,  either  in  the  way  of  instruction  or 
motive,  upon  the  formation  of  a  right  moral  character  ? 
How  difficult  —  I  may  say  how  impossible  —  that  a 
writer  of  fiction  should  introduce  an  extraordinary  per- 
son, like  Christ,  possessed  of  high  supernatural  powers, 
and  yet  not  attribute  to  him  one  wild  or  fanciful 
adventure,  such  as  we  find  in  every  account  of  heathen 
gods  ;  not  one  capricious,  or  selfish,  or  unworthy  ex- 
ertion of  his  miraculous  powers ;    but  that  he  should 


132  LECTURE    IV. 

make  all  the  exertions  of  those  powers,  and  all  the 
events  of  his  life,  such  that  they  bear  powerfully  as 
motives  on  the  practice  of  a  then  unheard-of,  but  per- 
fect morality !  As  I  have  already  said,  there  are  many 
new  duties  growing  out  of  the  new  relations  in  which 
we  are  placed  by  the  facts  of  Christianity ;  but  not  to 
these  only,  to  every  duty,  those  facts  furnish  new  and 
powerful  motives,  without  which  the  system,  as  a 
practical  whole,  has  no  power.  Certainly,  it  is  from 
the  character  of  God  as  revealed  by  Christianity,  and 
from  the  new  relations  assumed  by  him  towards  us, 
that  the  most  effective  motives  are  drawn  for  the  per- 
formance of  many  of  our  duties  towards  our  fellow-men. 
The  paternal  relation  of  God  to  man,  as  a  practical 
doctrine,  is  made  known  only  by  Christianity.  It  is 
true  —  what  was  said  by  Madame  De  Stael — that, 
if  Christ  had  simply  taught  men  to  say,  "Our  Father," 
he  would  have  been  the  greatest  benefactor  of  the  race. 
If  the  heathen  had  some  notion  of  the  beneficence 
of  the  supreme  power,  from  the  operation  of  general 
law^s,  yet  there  was  a  difference  heaven-wide  between 
that  and  all  that  is  involved  in  the  doctrine  of  a  par- 
ticular providence  and  of  paternal  regard  and  super- 
vision. Yet  how  effectively  does  Christ  himself  use 
this  doctrine,  and  those  high  moral  qualities  revealed 
in  connection  with  it,  to  enforce  practical  duty !  Does 
he  command  us  to  love  our  enemies,  and  bless  them 
that  curse  us  ?  It  is  that  we  may  be  the  children  of 
our  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  who  "  maketh  his  sun 
to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good."  Does  he  teach 
us  the  duty  of  forgiveness  ?  It  is  because  God  forgives 
us.  If  the  master  forgives  the  debt  of  ten  thousand 
talents,  the    servant  should  forgive  his  fellow-servant 


LECTURE    IV.  133 

the  debt  of  a  hundred  pence.  Does  he  teach  that  tlie 
pure  in  heart  are  blessed  ?  It  is  because  "  thej  shall 
see  God."  Does  he  teach  the  duty  of  letting  our  light 
shine  ?  It  is  that  we  may  glorify  our  Father  which  is 
in  heaven.  Would  an  apostle  teach  men  the  duty  of 
mutual  love  ?  "  Herein,"  says  he,  "  is  love  ;  not  that 
we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son 
to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.  Beloved,  if  God 
so  loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another."  And 
in  the  same  way  are  the  character  and  acts  of  Christ 
referred  to.  Would  Peter  teach  us  to  bear  injuries 
patiently  ?  He  tells  us  of  Him  "  who,  when  he  was 
reviled,  reviled  not  again ;  when  he  sufft^red,  he  threat- 
ened not ;  but  committed  himself  to  Him  that  Judgeth 
righteously."  Would  Paul  teach  us  lowliness  of  mind, 
and  to  esteem  others  better  than  ourselves,  what  is 
his  argument  ?  He  says,  "  Let  this  mind  be  in  you, 
which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus ;  who,  being  in  the  form 
of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God, 
but  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him 
the  form  of  a  servant."  Indeed,  the  more  we  exam- 
ine this  point,  the  more  we  shall  be  surprised  to  see 
how  almost  exclusively  the  motives  to  Christian  mo- 
rality are  drawn  from  the  Christian  religion,  and  how 
its  doctrines,  and  facts,  and  motives,  and  precepts, 
all  coalesce  and  become  indissolubly  united  in  one 
harmonious  and  perfect  whole. 

Let  no  one  suppose,  then,  that  he  can  separate 
Christian  morality  from  the  Christian  religion.  What- 
ever the  origin  of  this  religion  may  have  been,  it  is  no 
heterogeneous  mass  promiscuously  thrown  together. 
It  is  obviously  one,  and  must  be  accepted  or  rejected 
as  one.     From  the  nature  of  the  case,  therefore,  we 


134  LECTURE    IV. 

might  expect  —  what  all  experience  shows  has  hap- 
pened—  that  any  attempt  to  separate  this  morality 
from  this  religion,  and  yet  give  it  power,  woidd  be  like 
the  attempt  to  separate  the  branch  from  the  parent 
stock,  and  yet  cause  it  to  live.  We  might  expect,  if 
we  were  ever  to  see  a  perfect  morality  coming  up 
from  the  wilderness  of  this  world,  that  she  would 
come,  not  walking  alone,  but  "leaning  upon  her 
Beloved." 


LECTURE    V. 


ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  TO  THE  CONSCIENCE,  CON- 
SIDERED AS  A  POWER  CAPABLE  OF  IMPROVEMENT  — ITS 
ADAPTATION  TO  THE  INTELLECT,  THE  AFFECTIONS,  THE 
IMAGINATION,  AND  THE  WILL. 

Christianity  is  analogous  to  nature  ;  it  coincides 
with  natural  religion,  and  it  is  adapted  to  the  moral 
nature  of  man.  This  adaptation  may  be  said  to  exist 
if  it  satisfy  the  conscience  as  a  discriminating  power, 
and  if  it  has  a  tendency  to  quicken  and  exalt  its  action, 
considered  as  a  power  needing  improvement.  This 
last  point  I  regard  as  of  great  importance.  If  it  can 
be  shown  that  the  moral  powers  are  quickened  and 
perfected  in  proportion  as  the  mind  comes  under  the 
legitimate  action  of  any  system,  that  system  must  be 
from  God.  That  a  false  system  should  tend  to  perfect 
the  conscience  in  its  discriminating,  and  impulsive,  and 
rewarding,  and  punishing  power,  would  be  not  only 
impossible,  but  suicidal.  It  would  purge  the  eye  to 
a  quicker  perception  of  its  own  deformities,  and  nerve 
the  arm  for  its  own  overthrown  Accordingly,  there  is 
no  tendency  in  any  system,  except  the  Christian,  to 
create  a  pure  and  an  efficient  individual  or  public  con- 
science. Other  systems  act  upon  men  through  pre- 
scription, through  awe  and  reverence,  and  hope  and' 


136  LECTURE    V. 

fear,  and  not  by  commending  themselves  as  righteous 
to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God.  But 
Chiistianity,  by  the  perfect  standard  which  it  sets  up 
in  the  character  of  God  and  of  his  law,  by  its  doc- 
trines of  the  universal  and  constant  inspection  of  a 
righteous  God,  and  of  a  future  judgment,  by  its  amaz- 
ing sanctions,  and  especially  by  the  light  in  which  it 
places  all  sin  as  ingratitude  to  an  infinite  Benefactor, 
does  all  that  we  can  conceive  any  system  to  do  to 
quicken  and  to  perfect  the  powers  of  moral  perception 
and  of  action.  The  adjustments  of  the  system  are 
made  ;  they  are  perfect ;  it  only  needs  to  be  applied. 
Accordingly,  we  find  that  an  efficient  and  an  enlightened 
conscience  exists  just  in  proportion  to  the  prevalence 
of  pure  Christianity ;  and  we  must  see  that  its  full  in- 
fluence would  banish  moral  evil  as  the  sun  disperses 
the  darkness.  It  is  by  the  light  and  strength  drawn 
from  Christianity  itself  that  we  are  able  to  apply 
many  of  those  tests  which  we  now  apply  in  judging 
of  it ;  and  the  more  fully  we  are  under  its  influence, 
the  more  competent  shall  we  be  to  apply  such  tests, 
and  the  more  convincing  will  be  the  evidence  derived 
from  their  application. 

Having  made  these  few  additional  remarks  respect- 
ing the  adaptation  of  Christianity  to  the  conscience,  I 
now  proceed  to  speak  of  its  adaptation  to  the  intellect, 
to  the  affections,  to  the  imagination,  and  to  the  wifl. 

By  the  adaptation  of  Christianity  to  the  inteUect,  I 
mean  its  tendency  to  give  it  clearness  and  strength. 
I  mean  by  it  just  what  is  meant  when  it  is  said  that 
nature  is  adapted  to  the  intellect.     The  intellect  is 


LECTURE    V.  137 

enlarged  and  strengthened  by  the  exercise  of  its  pow- 
ers on  suitable  subjects.  This  exercise  can  be  induced 
in  only  two  ways  —  by  furnishing  it  with  information^ 
or  by  leading  it  to  stiuhj  and  rcjiection  ;  and  which- 
ever of  these  we  regard,  we  need  not  fear  to  compare 
Christianity  with  nature  as  adapted  to  enlarge  and 
strengthen  the  intellectual  powers. 

And,  first,  of  information.  If  we  consider  the  Chris- 
tian revelation,  as  we  fairly  may  in  this  connection,  as 
it  recognizes,  includes,  and  presupposes  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, there  is  no  book  that  can  compare  with  it  for 
the  variety  and  importance  of  the  information  it  gives ; 
nor  can  it  be  exceeded  by  nature  itself.  From  this,  and 
from  this  alone,  do  we  know  any  thing  of  the  origin 
of  the  world  and  of  the  human  race  ;  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  natural  and  moral  evil ;  of  the  history  of  men 
before  the  deluge ;  of  the  deluge  itself,  as  connected 
with  the  race  of  man  ;  of  the  early  settlement  and  dis- 
persions of  the  race ;  of  the  history  of  the  Jews  ;  and 
of  the  history  of  the  early  rise  and  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity. Without  the  Bible,  an  impenetrable  curtain 
would  be  dropped  between  us  and  the  whole  history 
of  the  race  farther  back  than  the  Greeks  ;  and  who 
does  not  feel  that  the  letting  down  of  such  a  curtain 
would  act  upon  the  mind,  not  simply  by  the  amount  of 
information  it  would  withdraw,  but  with  the  effect  of 
a  chill  and  a  paralysis,  from  the  necessity  of  that  infoi  ■ 
mation  to  give  completeness  to  knowledge  as  an  organ- 
ized whole  ?  It  would  be  like  taking  the  hook  out  of 
the  beam  on  which  the  whole  chain  hangs.  And,  again, 
w4iat  information  gained  from  nature  can  be  more 
interesting  than  that  which  the  Bible  gives  concerning 
God  as  a  Father,  concerning  his  universal  providence, 


13 


138  LECTURE    V. 

our  accountability,  a  resurrection  from  the  dead,  the 
second  coming  of  Christ,  and  an  eternal  life  ?  Who 
would  su})stitute  the  mists  of  conjecture  for  this  mighty 
background,  piled  up  by  revelation  along  the  horizon 
of  the  future  ? 

But,  to  say  nothing  of  information,  as  it  is  not  from 
that  that  the  mind  gains  its  chief  efficiency  ;  I  infer 
that  Christianity  is  adapted  to  the  intellect,  1st,  From 
the  fact  of  the  identity  of  its  spirit  with  that  of  true 
philosophy.     Of  this  I  have  ah-eady  spoken. 

2.  Christianity  is  indirectly  fovorable  to  the  intel- 
lect by  bringing  men  out  from  under  the  dominion 
of  sensuality  and  of  those  low  vices  by  which  it  is 
checked  and  dwarfed  in  its  growth.  The  temper- 
ance and  sobriety  of  life  which  it  enjoins  are  essen- 
tial, as  conditions,  to  the  full  expansion  and  power 
of  the  intellect. 

3.  That  Christianity  is  favorable  to  the  intellect, 
is  obvious  from  the  place  which  it  assigns  to  truth. 
Truth,  in  this  system,  lies  at  the  foundation  of  every 
thing.  It  is  contradistinguished  from  every  other  sys- 
tem, pretending  to  come  from  God,  by  this.  Christ 
said  that  he  came  into  the  world  to  bear  witness  of 
the  truth.  He  prayed  that  God  would  sanctify  men, 
but  it  was  through  the  truth.  It  seems  to  have  been 
the  object  of  Christ  to  place  his  disciples  in  a  position 
in  which  they  could  intelligently,  as  well  as  affection- 
ately, yield  themselves  to  him,  and  to  the  government 
of  God.  How  remarkable  are  his  words  !  "  Hence- 
forth," says  he,  "  I  call  you  not  servants ;  for  the 
servant  knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth :  but  I  have 
called  you  friends;  for  all  things  that  I  have  heard  of 
my  Father,  I  have  made  known  unto  you."     Christ 


LECTURE    V.  139 

is  spoken  of  as  a  liglit  to  lighten  tlic  Gentiles.  The 
objeet  of  Paul  was  to  turn  men  from  darkness  to  lioht, 
as  well  as  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  He 
spoke  the  words  of  truth  as  well  as  of  soberness.  If 
he  was  strongly  moved  hy  the  conduct  of  a  church, 
it  was  because  it  did  not  obey  the  truth.  Does  the 
beloved  disciple  exhort  the  elect  lady  not  to  receive 
some  into  her  house  ?  It  is  those  who  do  not  teach 
the  truth.  Light  in  the  understanding  is  scarcely  less 
an  object,  with  Christianity,  than  purity  in  the  affec- 
tions. Its  whole  scope  and  tendency  is  to  magnify 
the  importance  of  truth.  The  enemies  of  Christianity 
cannot  point  out  any  thing,  either  in  its  letter  or  spirit, 
which  would  restrict  knowledge  or  cramp  the  intel- 
lect. We  are,  indeed,  required  to  have  faith ;  but 
we  are  also  required  to  "  add  to  faith  knowledge." 
We  are  to  adopt  no  conviction  on  the  ground  of  any 
blind  impulse ;  we  are  always  to  be  able  to  give  a 
reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  us.  We  glory  in  Chris- 
tianity, as  a  religion  of  light  not  less  than  a  religion 
of  love. 

4.  Christianity  is  favorable  to  the  intellect,  because, 
wherever  it  exists  in  i^s  purity,  there  must  be  freedom 
of  opinion,  and  this  is  one  great  condition  of  vigorous 
intellect.  Recognizing  truth  as  the  great  instrument 
of  moral  power  and  of  moral  changes  in  the  soul, 
making  no  account  of  any  forms,  or  external  conduct 
not  springing  from  conviction,  Christianity  claims  truth 
as  the  right  of  the  human  soul.  What  was  the  fun- 
damental principle  of  the  Reformation,  but  the  right 
of  the  people  to  the  truth,  and  the  whole  truth  — 
access  for  themselves  to  its  fountain-head  in  the 
Bible?     And  whence    did   that  principle  spring,   but 


140  LECTURE    V. 

from  the  Bible  itself,  from  that  Bible  found  and  read 
by  Luther?  It  is  to  the  very  book  he  abuses  that 
the  infidel  owes  that  freedom  by  which  he  is  permitted 
to  abuse  it ;  for  where,  except  where  the  Bible  has  in- 
fluence, do  you  find  opinion  free  ?  The  fact  is,  that 
Christianity  gives  to  God  and  truth  a  supremacy  in  the 
mind  which  unfits  man  for  becoming  either  the  dupe 
or  the  tool  of  designing  men ;  and  hence,  chiefly,  their 
attempts  to  corrupt  it,  and  to  take  it  from  the  people. 
5.  But  I  have  intimated  that  Christianity  is  adapted 
to  the  intellect  in  the  same  way  that  nature  is.  I 
wish  to  show^  this.  How  is  it,  then,  that  nature  im- 
proves the  mind  ?  Evidently  only  as  it  contains 
thought.  Mind  cannot  commune  with  chaotic  matter, 
but  only  with  mind  ;  and  therefore  the  study  of  nature 
can  improve  the  intellect  only  as  we  gain  from  it  the 
thought  of  its  Author.  It  would  seem  to  be  plain  that 
nothing,  whether  a  book,  or  a  machine,  or  a  work  of 
art,  or  of  nature,  can  be  a  profitable  object  of  study, 
except  for  the  thought  it  contains  ;  and  that  when 
the  whole  of  that  thought  is  grasped  by  the  mind, 
there  can  be  no  longer  any  improvement  in  the  study 
of  that  object.  And  Nature  seems  to  be  so  construct- 
ed, in  almost  all  her  departments,  (perhaps  for  the  very 
purpose  of  training  the  intellect,)  as  to  render  it  dif- 
ficult to  discover  the  controlling  thought  according 
to  which  they  were  constructed.  On  the  surface,  all 
seems  confused  and  irregular ;  but  as  we  penetrate 
deeper,  perhaps  by  long  processes  of  observation  and 
induction,  we  find  a  principle  of  order  and  harmony 
running  through  all.  What  more  confused,  apparent- 
ly, than  the  motions  and  appearances  of  the  heavenly 
bodies?     See,  now,  the  ancient  astronomer  studying 


LECTURE    V.  141 

these  appearances.  How  does  he  grope  in  the  dark ! 
How  fanciful  and  inadequate  are  his  hypotheses ! 
Plainly,  he  is  but  groping  after  the  true  idea  or 
thought  of  the  system,  as  it  lay  in  the  mind  of  God. 
Give  him  this  carried  out  into  its  details,  and  he  has 
the  science  of  astronomy  completed.  It  has  nothing 
more  to  sav  to  him.  So  the  heavens  are  constructed : 
so  they  move.  Not  less  confused  to  the  eye  of  man, 
for  ages,  was  the  vegetable  creation  ;  but  at  length, 
running  like  a  line  of  light  through  all  its  species  and 
genera,  the  true  principle  of  classification  was  found. 
So  it  was  in  chemistry ;  so  in  geology,  if,  indeed,  the 
true  thought  there   be  yet  found. 

.It  would  appear,  then,  that  nature  is  adapted  to  the 
intellect  of  man  only,  first,  as  it  contains  the  thought 
of  God ;  and,  secondly,  as  it  is  so  constructed  as  to 
stimulate  and  task  the  powers  of  the  intellect  in  the 
attainment  of  that  thought.  Now,  I  have  no  right 
to  assume,  here,  that  the  Bible  contains  the  true 
thought  of  God ;  but  I  do  say  that  its  thoughts  are  not 
less  grand  and  exciting  than  those  of  nature,  and  that 
there  is  between  its  construction  and  that  of  nature 
a  singular  analogy,  as  adapted  to  the  intellect.  There 
is  the  same  apparent  want  of  order  and  adjustment, 
and  the  same  deep  harmony,  running  through  the 
whole.  An  individual  truth,  revealed  in  one  age  for 
a  particular  purpose,  and,  by  itself,  adapted  to  the  use 
of  man,  lies  imbedded  here,  and  another  there.  By 
comparison,  it  is  seen  that  they  may  come  together,  as 
bone  to  its  fellow-bone,  till,  at  length,  the  mammoth 
framework  of  a  complete  organization  stands  before 
us.  Does  the  Bible  contain  a  system  of  theology  ? 
Yes,   a  complete  system ;    but  it  contains  it  as  the 


142  LECTURE    V. 

heavens  contain  the  system  of  astronomy.  Its  truths 
lie  there  in  no  logical  order.  They  appear  at  first  like 
a  map  of  the  apparent  motions  of  tiie  planets,  whose 
paths  seem  to  cross  each  other  in  all  directions ;  but 
you  have  only  to  find  the  true  centre,  and  the  orbs  of 
truth  take  their  places,  and  circle  around  it  like  the 
stars  of  heaven.  And  I  venture  to  say  that  the 
efforts  of  thought,  the  struggles  of  intellect,  that  have 
been  called  forth  for  the  adjustment  of  this  system, 
have  done  more  for  the  human  mind  than  its  efforts 
in  any  other  science.  Its  questions  have  stirred,  not 
the  minds  of  philosophers  alone,  but  every  meditative 
human  soul.  Does  the  Bible  contain  a  system  of 
ethics  ?  Yes  ;  but  it  is  as  the  earth  contains  a  system 
of  geology ;  and  long  might  the  eye  of  the  listless  or 
unscientific  reader  rest  upon  its  pages  without  discov- 
erins;  that  the  system  was  there, — just  as  men  trod  the 
earth  for  near  six  thousand  years  without  discovering 
that  its  surface  was  a  regular  structure,  with  its  strata 
arranged  in  an  assignable  order.  And  after  we  have 
reason  to  suppose  there  is  a  system,  whether  in  nature 
or  the  Bible,  we  often  find  facts  that  seem  to  contradict 
each  other,  that  can  be  reconciled  only  by  the  most 
patient  attention  ;  perhaps,  in  the  present  state  of 
our  knowledge,  cannot  be  reconciled  at  all.  How 
strong,  then,  is  the  argument,  drawn  from  this  struc- 
ture of  the  Bible,  that  it  did  not  originate  in  the  mind 
of  man !  The  mind  loves  unity ;  it  seeks  to  sys- 
tematize every  thing.  It  is  in  finished  systems  that 
great  minds  produce  their  works,  never  leaving  truths, 
seemingly  incompatible,  lying  side  by  side,  and  re- 
quiring or  expecting  us  to  adopt  them  both.  But  so 
does  the  Bible,  and  so  does  nature.     Our  conclusion, 


LECTURE    V.  143 

cherefore,  is  that,  if  nature  is  adapted  to  tlic  mind  of 
man,   so,  and  on   the   same  principle,  is  the  Bible. 

6.  Once  more,  Christianity  is  adapted  to  the;  intel- 
lect because  it  puts  it  in  possession  of  a  higher  kind 
of  knowledge  than  nature  can  give.  It  solves  ques- 
tions of  a  different  order,  and  those,  too,  which  man, 
as  an  intellectual  being,  most  needs  to  have  solved. 
There  are  plainly  two  classes  of  questions  which  we 
may  ask  concerning  the  works  of  God  ;  and  concern- 
ing one  of  these,  philosophy  is  profoundly  silent.  One 
class  respects  the  relation  of  the  different  parts  of  a 
constituted  whole  to  each  other  and  to  that  whole. 
The  other  respects  the  ultimate  design  of  the  whole 
itself.  In  the  present  state  of  science,  questions  of 
the  first  class  can  generally  be  answered  with  a  good 
degree  of  satisfaction.  Man  existing,  the  philosopher 
can  tell  the  number  of  bones,  and  muscles,  and  blood- 
vessels, and  nerves,  in  his  body,  and  the  uses  of  all 
these.  He  may,  perhaps,  tell  how  the  stomach  digests, 
and  the  heart  beats,  and  the  glands  secrete  ;  but  of  the 
great  purpose  for  which  man  himself  was  made,  he  can 
know  nothing.  But  this  knowledge  Christianity  gives. 
It  attributes  to  God  a  purpose  worthy  of  him  ;  one  that 
satisfies  the  intellect  and  the  heart ;  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  this  must  modify  our  views  of  all  history,  and 
of  the  whole  drama  of  human  life.  It  gives  us  a  new 
stand-point,  from  which  w^e  see  every  thing  in  different 
relations  and  proportions.  We  had  seen  the  river, 
before,  on  which  we  were  sailing ;  now  we  see  the 
ocean.  Entirely  different  must  be  the  relation  of  man 
to  God,  both  as  an  intellectual  and  a  practical  being, 
when  he  knows  his  plans  and  can  intelligently  cooper- 
ate with  him.     He  now^  comes,  in  the  language  of  our 


144  LECTURE    V. 

Saviour,  into  the  relation  of  a  friend.     Surely  no  one 
can  think  lightly  of  the  influence  of  this  on  the  intellect ! 
From    the    arguments    now    stated,    we    infer    that 
Christianity  is   adapted    to    the    intellect ;    and    these 
arguments   are   confirmed  by  fact.     No   book,  not  na- 
ture itself,  has  ever  waked  up  intellectual  activity  like 
the  Bible.     On   the   battle-field  of  truth,  it  has  ever 
been  round  this   that   the   conflict   has  raged.      What 
book  besides  ever  caused  the  writing  of  so  man}^  other 
books  ?     Take   from   the  libraries   of  Christendom  all 
those  which  have  sprung,  I  will  not  say  indirectly,  but 
directly  from  it,  —  those  written  to  oppose,  or  defend, 
or  elucidate  it,  —  and  how  would  they  be  diminished ! 
The  very  multitude  of  infidel  books  is  a  witness  to  the 
power  with  which  the   Bible  stimulates  the  intellect. 
Why  do  we  not  see   the   same   amount  of  active  intel- 
lect coming  up,  and   dashing  and  roaring  around  the 
Koran  ?     And  the  result  of  this  activity  is  such  as  we 
might  anticipate.     The  general  intellectual,  as  well  as 
moral  superiority  of  Christian  nations,  and  that,  too,  in 
proportion  as  they  have  had  a  pure  Christianity,  stands 
out  in   too   broad   a  sunlight  to  be  questioned  or  ob- 
scured.    Wherever  the  word  of  God  has  really  entered, 
it  has  given  light  —  light  to  individuals,  light  to  com- 
munities.    It  has  favored  hterature  ;   and  by  means  of 
it  alone  has  society  been  brought  up  to  that  point  at 
which  it  has   been  able   to  construct  the  apparatus  of 
physical  science,  and  to  carry  its  investigations  to  the 
point    which    they    have    now  reached.     The    instru- 
ments   of    a    well-furnished   astronomical    observatory 
presuppose    accumulations  of  w^ealth,  and    the    exist- 
once  of  a  class  of  arts,  and  of   men,  that  could   be 
the   product  only  of  Christian    civilization.     Accord- 


LECTURE    V.  145 

ingly,  we  find,  whatever  may  be  said  of  literature,  that 
physical  science,  except  in  Christian  countries,  has,  after 
a  time,  either  become  stationary,  or  begun  to  recede; 
and  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  the  ])ath  of 
indefinite  progress  which  now  lies  before  it,  could  have 
been  opened  except  in  connection  with  Christianity. 
Individual  men  who  reject  Christianity,  and  yet  live 
within  the  general  sphere  of  its  influence,  may  distin- 
guish themselves  in  science  ;  they  have  done  so  ;  but 
it  has  been  on  ji;rounds  and  conditions  furnished  by  that 
very  religion  w^hich  they  have  rejected.  Christianity 
furnishes  no  new  faculties,  no  direct  power  to  the  intel- 
lect, but  a  general  condition  of  society  favorable  to  its 
cultivation  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if,  in  such 
a  state  of  things,  men  who  seek  intellectual  distinction 
solely,  rejecting  the  moral  restraints  of  Christianity, 
should  distinguish  themselves  by  intellectual  effort. 

But  if  there  is  this  adaptation  of  Christianity  to  the 
intellect,  ought  not  those  who  are  truly  Christians  to 
distinguish  themselves  above  others  in  literature  and 
science  ?  This  does  not  follow.  Up  to  a  certain 
point,  Christianity  in  the  heart  will  certainly  give 
clearness  and  strength  to  the  intellect ;  and  cases  are 
not  wanting  in  which  the  intellectual  powers  have  been 
surprisingly  roused  through  the  action  of  the  moral  na- 
ture, and  of  the  affections,  awakened  by  the  religion  of 
Christ.  But  when  we  consider  that  the  change  pro- 
duced by  Christianity  is  a  moral  change ;  that  the  ob- 
jects it  presents  are  moral  objects ;  that  it  presents  this 
world  as  needing:  not  so  much  to  be  enlightened  in  the 
more  abstract  sciences,  or  to  be  delighted  with  the 
refinements  of  literature,  as  to  be  rescued  from  moral 
pollution,  and  to  be  won  back  to  God ;  —  perhaps  we 


rj 


146  LECTURE    V 

ought  not  to  be  surprised  if  it  has  caused  many  to 
be  absorbed  in  labors  of  an  entirely  different  kind, 
who  would  otherwise  have  trodden  the  highest  walks 
of  science. 

And  here,  precisely  at  this  point,  I  think  we  may  see 
how  an  impression  has  been  originated  in  the  minds  of 
some  that  distinguished  piety  is  even  unfavorable  to  the 
hiehest  cultivation  of  the  sciences  and  arts  and  to  re- 

a 

finement  of  taste.     If  this  were  so, —  as  it  is  not,  —  it 
would  prove  nothing  against  Christianity  ;  nor  would  it 
invalidate  at  all  the  position  I  have  taken,  that  it  is  fa- 
vorable to  the  intellect.     There  are  things  more  impor- 
tant than  science,  or  literature,  or  taste.     Nor  is  it  in 
these  that  the  true  and  the  highest  dignity  of  man  con- 
sists.    Perhaps  Paul,  if  he  had  not  been  a  Christian, 
might  have  shone  as  a  philosopher.     He  did  not  be- 
come less  a  philosopher  by  being  a  Christian ;  but  the 
energies  of  his  mind  were  given  neither  to  philosophy 
nor  to  hterature,  but  to  something  far  higher.     In  a 
noble  forgetfulness  of  self,  he  strove  to  turn  men  "  from 
darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God."     And  so,  now,  many  of  the  finest  spirits  of  our 
race  are  diverted  from    science  by  the  practical  calls 
and  self-denying  duties  arising  from  the  spiritual  wants 
of  the  world.     But  does  this  dwarf  the  intellect  ?     Far 
from  it.     It  leads  it  to  grapple  practically  with  ques- 
tions higher  than   those  of  science,  though  it  may  be 
not  so  as  to  gain  the  admiration  of  men ;  and  hence 
we  often  find  in  an  humble  Christian  a  breadth  of  mind 
which  we   should  look  for  in  vain  in   many  professed 
votaries  of  literature.     Can  that   dwarf  the  intellect 
which   shows    it   realities   more   grand   than    those  of 
science ;  which,  with  a  full  comprehension  of  the  na- 


LECTURE    V.  147 

ture,  and  processes,  and  ends  of  science  and  of  litera- 
ture, jet  gives  them  their  rightful,  though  subordinate 
j)lacc  ?  Never;  even  though  it  should  sometimes  lead 
to  the  general  feeling  expressed  by  one  who  said  that 
he  would  attend  to  his  more  immediate  duties  here, 
and  study  the  science  of  astronomy  on  his  way  up  to 
heaven.  No  ;  men  may  do  what  they  please  in  dis- 
seminating school  libraries,  and  scattering  abroad 
cheap  publications ;  but,  for  energy  and  balance,  I 
would  rather  have  the  intellect  formed  by  the  Bible 
alone, —  by  grappling  with  its  mighty  questions,  by 
communing  with  its  high  mysteries,  by  tracing  its 
narratives,  by  listening  to  its  matchless  eloquence  and 
poetry,  —  than  to  have  that  formed  by  all  the  light  and 
})opular  literature,  and  by  all  the  scientific  tracts,  in 
existence  ;  and  if  these  efforts  should  practically  ex- 
clude the  Bible,  and  prevent  a  general  and  familiar 
acquaintance  with  it  on  the  part  of  the  young,  instead 
of  being  a  blessing,  they  would  bring  only  disaster. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  perhaps  I  ought  to  ad- 
vert to  the  manner  in  w  Iiich  the  teachings  of  the  Bible 
are  given,  as  a  book  adapted  to  the  instruction  of  all 
classes,  and  of  all  ages.  This,  though  a  minor  point, 
is  one  of  great  interest.  In  this  respect,  again,  the 
Bible  is  like  nature,  and  is  indeed  a  most  wonderful 
book.  What  a  problem  it  would  be  to  prepare  a  book 
now,  which  should  be  equally  adapted  to  the  young 
and  to  the  old,  to  the  learned  and  to  the  unlearned  ! 
Man  could  not  do  it.  But  such  a  book  is  the  Bible. 
It  has  a  simplicity,  a  majesty,  a  beauty,  a  variety, 
which  fit  it  for  all ;  and,  as  the  eye  of  the  child  can 
see  something  in  nature  to  please  and  instruct  it, 
while  the  philosopher  can  see  more,  and  yet  not  all,  — 


148  LECTURE   V. 

SO  does   the  youngest  and  most  ignorant  person,  who 
can  read  its  pages,  find,  in  the  Bible,  narratives,  para- 
bles, brief  sayings,  just  suited  to  his  comprehension  ; 
while  the  profoundest  theologian,  or  "the  greatest  phi- 
losopher, can  never  feel  that  he  has   sounded  all  its 
depths.      And  here   w^e   may   perhaps  see   one   great 
reason  why  the  revelation  of  God  was  written  by  so 
many  different   persons,  at   different   times,  and  with 
such   different  habits   of  thought   and   of  feeling.     It 
was   because   it  w^as   intended  to  be   a  book  for  the 
instruction  of  the  race,  and  this  it  could  not  be  if  it 
were  written  in  any  one  style,  or  w-ere  stamped  with 
the  peculiarities  of  any  one  human  mind.     In  order  to 
this,  it  must  embrace  narratives,  poetry,  proverbs,  par- 
ables, letters,  profound  reasoning,  —  which,  w^hile  they 
all   harmonized  in  doctrine  and   in   spirit,  should   yet 
be  as  diversified  as  the  hills  and  valleys  of  the  green 
earth  ;  should  yet  refract  the  pure  light  of  inspiration 
in  colors  to  catch  and  fix  every  eye.    Wonderful  book  ! 
If  some  of  its  parts  seem  to  us  less  interesting,  let  us 
remember  that  nature  too  has  many  departments,  and 
that  it  was  made  for  all ;  and  the  more  we  study  it  in 
this  point  of  view,  the  more  ready  shall  we  be  to  join 
with  the  apostle  in  saying,  that  "  all  scripture  is  given 
by  inspiration  of  God." 

We  say,  then,  that  Christianity  is  adapted  to  the 
intellect,  because  its  spirit  coincides  with  that  of  true 
philosophy ;  because  it  removes  the  incubus  of  sensu- 
ality and  low  vice  ;  because  of  the  place  it  gives  to 
truth  ;  because  it  demands  free  inquiry ;  because  its 
mighty  truths  and  systems  are  brought  before  the  mind 
in  the  same  way  as  the  truths  and  systems  of  nature  ; 
because  it   solves  higher  problems   than   nature  can ; 


LECTURE   V.  149 

and  because  it  is  so  communicated  as  to  be  adapted 
to  every  mind. 

But,  if  Christianity  is  adapted  to  the  intellect,  as  a 
religion  of  light,  it  is  not  less  adapted  to  the  affections, 
as  a  religion  of  love.  The  affections  are  that  part  of 
our  being  from  which  we  are  most  susceptible  of  en- 
joyment and  of  suffering.  They  are  the  source  of  all 
disinterested  action,  of  all  cheerful  and  happy  obedi- 
ence. They  arc,  to  the  other  faculties  of  man,  what 
the  light  is  to  the  body  of  the  sun,  what  its  leaves  and 
blossoms  are  to  the  tree ;  and  the  system  in  which 
they  are  not  regarded,  and  put  in  their  proper  place, 
cannot  be  from  God. 

The  affections,  as  we  all  know,  are  not  under  the 
immediate  control  of  the  will ;  that  is,  we  cannot  love 
any  object  we  choose,  simply  by  willing  to  love  it. 
We  may  act  towards  an  unworthy  being  —  a  tyrant, 
for  example  —  as  if  we  loved  him  ;  but,  unless  we  see 
in  him  qualities  really  excellent  and  lovely,  it  is  impos- 
sible we  should  love  him.  The  natural  affections,  so 
far  as  they  are  instinctive,  have  their  own  laws.  Lay- 
ing them,  then,  aside,  the  first  condition  on  which  it  is 
possible  for  us  to  love  a  moral  being,  as  such,  is  a  per- 
ception of  some  excellence  in  his  character.  If  we 
are  rightly  constituted,  we  shall  love  him  on  the  per- 
ception of  such  excellence,  whether  he  has  any  })ar- 
ticular  relation  to  us  or  not.  But  the  whole  strength 
of  our  affections  can  be  elicited  only  when  goodness 
is  manifested  towards  us  individually.  That  which 
should  call  forth  our  strongest  affections  would  evident- 
ly  be  a  being  of  perfect  moral  excellence,  putting  forth 
effort  and  sacrifice  on  our  behalf.     To  be  adapted  to 


150  LECTURE    V. 

the  affections,  then,  any  system  must  first  recognize 
and  encourage  them ;  and,  secondly,  it  must  present 
suitable  objects  to  call  them  forth. 

I  observe,  then,  first,  that  Christianity  is  adapted  to 
the  affections,  because  it  encourages  and  supports 
them  in  the  relations  and  trials  of  the  present  life. 
And  here,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  mention  that  the  domes- 
tic constitution,  which  Christianity,  and  that  alone, 
enjoins  and  maintains  in  its  purity,  is  fundamental  to 
a  pure  and  healthful  state  of  the  natural  and  social 
affections.  It  is  impossible  there  should  be,  under 
any  other  system  or  conditions,  the  same  conjugal, 
and  parental,  and  filial  affection  as  there  will  be  when 
the  domestic  constitution,  as  enjoined  by  Christianity, 
is  strictly  regarded.  Here  we  see  the  far-reaching 
wisdom  of  Christ  in  casting  up  an  enclosure,  the  ma- 
terials of  which  we  now  see  w^ere  provided  in  the 
nature  of  things,  which  should  be  to  the  affections  as 
a  walled  garden,  where  their  tendrils  and  blossoms 
might  put  forth  secure  from  any  intruder.  Accord- 
ingly, who  can  estimate  the  blessings  of  peace,  and 
purity,  and  hallowed  affection,  which  have  been  en- 
joyed through  this  constitution,  and  which  are  now 
enjoyed  around  ten  thousand  firesides  in  every  Chris- 
tian land  ?  But,  besides  this,  Christianity  encourages 
directly  the  natural  affections  of  kindred  and  of  friend- 
ship; it  never  condemns  grief  as  a  weakness;  and 
it  affords  the  most  effectual  consolation  when  these 
relations  are  sundered  by  death.  In  this  respect,  it  is 
contrasted,  not  only  with  the  selfish  Epicureanism 
and  sensual  indulgences  by  which  the  heathen  became 
"  without  natural  affection,"  but  especially  with  the 
proud  s])irit  of  Stoicism  —  a  spirit  far  from  having  be- 


LECTURE    V.  151 

come  extinct  with  the  sect.  Stoicism  would  fain 
elevate  human  nature,  but  it  really  dismembers  it.  It 
was  an  attempt  to  destroy  that  Avhich  t!i(;y  knew  not 
how  to  regulate.  To  do  this,  they  were  obliged  to 
deny  their  own  nature,  and  to  affect  insensibility, 
when  it  was  impossible  that  man  should  not  feel.  It 
was,  indeed,  a  hard  task  which  this  system  imposed, 
—  to  feel  the  cold  hand  of  death  grasping  those  warm 
affections  which  are  so  deeply  rooted  in  the  heart,  and 
withering  them  up,  and  tearing  them  away,  and  yet 
shed  no  tear.  They  were  driven  to  this  because  they 
could  find  no  consolation  in  death.  They  knew  not 
the  rod,  or  Him  who  appointed  it  ;  but  assumed  an 
attitude  of  sullen  defiance,  and  steeled  themselves  as 
well  as  they  were  able  against  the  bolts  of  what  they 
deemed  a  stern  necessity.  This  system,  indeed,  was 
not  favorable  to  the  growth  of  the  natural  affections  at 
all ;  and  many  who  adhered  to  it  refused  to  suffer  them 
to  expand,  or  to  enter  into  any  intimate  alliances.  But 
Christianity  neither  destroys  those  affections  in  which 
we  find  the  beauty  and  the  fragrance  of  existence, 
nor  does  it  nourish  those  which  must  bleed,  without 
furnishing  a  balm  to  heal  the  wound.  It  is  indulgent 
to  our  weakness,  and  never  sneers  at  the  natural  ex- 
pression of  sorrow.  "Jesus  w'ept."  Surely,  if  we 
except  our  own  death-bed,  there  is  no  place  where  we 
so  much  need  support  as  at  the  death-bed  of  a  friend, 
a  wife,  a  child ;  and  the  religion  or  the  system,  the 
Stoicism  or  the  Skepticism,  which  fails  us  there,  is  good 
for  nothing.     How  desolate  often  the  condition  of  those 

Who  "  to  the  grave  have  followed  tliose  they  love, 

And  on  t,h'  inexorable  tlireshold  stand  ; 
With  cherished  names  its  speechless  calm  reprove, 

And  stretch  into  th'  abyss  their  ungrasped  hand"! 


152  LECTURE   V. 

But  just  here  it  is  that  Cin-istianitj  comes  in  with  its 
strong  supports.  This  it  does,  1.  By  the  sympatliy 
which  it  provides ;  for  it  not  only  supposes  those  who 
are  afflicted  to  weep,  but  it  commands  others  to  weep 
with  them.  2.  By  teaching  us  that  our  afflictions 
are  brought  upon  us,  not  by  a  blind  fate,  but  by  a  wise 
and  kind  Parent.  3.  By  the  blessed  hopes  which  it 
enables  us  to  cherish.  We  sorrow  not  as  those  who 
have  no  hope ;  "  for,  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and 
rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus 
will  God  bring  with  him."  4.  And  by  encouraging 
and  enabling  us  to  fix  our  affections  upon  a  higher 
and  better  object.  So  long  as  we  have  something  to 
love,  the  heart  is  not  desolate.  Christianity  furnishes 
us  with  an  object  that  cannot  fail  us.  It  suffers  the 
affections  to  shoot  out  their  tendrils  here  upon  the 
earth  as  vigorously  as  they  may ;  but  it  trains  them  up, 
and  trains  them  up,  till  it  fixes  them  around  the  base  of 
the  eternal  throne.  Then,  if  these  lower  tendrils  are 
severed,  they  do  not  fall  to  the  dust  to  be  trampled  on, 
and  wither,  and  decay,  till  our  hearts  die  within  us; 
they  fix  themselves  the  more  firmly  to  their  all-suffi- 
cient and  never-failing  support.  It  is  easy  to  see  that 
all  these  circumstances  must  make  the  valley  of  afflic- 
tion far  less  dark  than  it  once  was.  To  the  true 
Christian  there  is  light  all  the  way  through  it,  there  is 
light  at  the  end  of  it.  Thus  Christianity  aims  at  no 
heights  of  Stoicism.  It  neither  uproots  nor  dwarfs  the 
affections,  on  the  one  hand,  nor  does  it,  on  the  other, 
leave  them  to  the  wild  and  aimless  paroxysms  of  a 
hopeless  sorrow  ;  but  it  encourages  their  growth,  and, 
in  affliction,  gives  them  the  support  which  they  need. 

And  this  leads  me  to  observe,  secondly,  that  Chris- 


LECTURE    V.  153 

tiaiiity  is  ada])t(3d  to  the  affections  because  it  pre- 
sents them  with  an  obje(-t,  upon  vviiich  they  can  rest, 
that  is  infinite,  perfect,  and  unchangeable.  Here  we 
find  the  transcendent  excellence  of  this  religion,  in 
that  it  presents  God  as  the  object  of  our  affections  ; 
and  I  know  of  nothing  in  it  more  amazing  than  the 
union  that  it  presents,  in  God,  of  those  infinite  natural 
attributes  which  raise  in  the  mind  the  highest  possible 
emotions  of  awe  and  sublimity,  —  and  of  those  holy 
moral  attributes  which  cause  the  angels  to  veil  their 
faces,  —  with  the  pity,  and  condescension,  and  love, 
which  Christianity  represents  him  as  manifesting 
towards  the  guilty  creatures  of  a  day.  Here  was  a 
difficult  point.  Beforehand,  I  should  have  thought  it 
impossible  that  the  infinite  and  holy  God  should  so 
reveal  himself,  to  a  creature  so  insignificant  and  guilty 
as  man,  as  to  lead  him  to  have  confidence  in  him,  and 
to  look  up  and  say,  "  My  Father!  "  Yet  so  does  Chris- 
tianity reveal  God.  It  is  a  revelation  adapted,  not  to 
angels,  but  to  Just  such  a  being  as  man,  guilty,  and 
having  the  distrust  that  guilt  naturally  engenders,  yet 
seeking  assurance  that  a  God  so  holy,  and  so  dreadful, 
and  so  infinitely  exalted  above  him,  could  yet  love  him 
and  be  the  object  of  his  love.  Certainly  it  abates 
nothing  of  the  infinite  majesty  or  purity  of  God.  It 
enthrones  him  with  the  full  investment  of  every  high 
and  holy  attribute,  and  yet  nothing  can  exceed  the 
expressions  of  tenderness  and  compassion  with  which 
he  seeks  to  win  the  confidence  of  his  creatures.  He 
is  represented  as  having  an  unspeakable  affection  for 
the  race  of  man  ;  as  watching  over  all  in  his  universal 
providence  ;  as  the  Father  of  the  fatherless,  and  the 
widow's  God  and  Judge  ;  as  strengthening  men  upon 

20 


154  LECTURE    V. 

the  bed  of  languishing,  and  making  all  their  bed  in 
their  sickness;  as  hearmg  the  groanings  of  the  prisoner 
and  the  cry  of  the  poor  and  needy,  when  they  seek 
water  and  there  is  none,  and  their  tongue  faileth  for 
thirst ;  as  the  God  that  hears  the  faintest  whisper  of 
true  prayer;  as  the  God  upon  whom  we  may  cast  all 
our  cares,  because  he  careth  for  us  ;  the  God  who  com- 
forteth  those  that  are  cast  down  ;  who  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  all  faces ;  who  is  more  ready  to  give  to 
man  the  Holy  Spirit  (the  greatest  of  all  gifts)  than 
earthly  parents  are  to  give  good  gifts  to  their  children ; 
who  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  eternal  life.  If  such  expressions,  and  such  a 
pledge,  do  not  satisfy  men  of  the  love  of  God,  and  lead 
them  to  him,  nothing  can.  Well  might  the  apostle 
say,  "  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered 
him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also 
freely  give  us  all  things!"  Well  might  he  invite  men 
to  "  come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace,"  that  they 
may  "  obtain  mercy  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of 
need."  Nothing  can  be  more  tender  or  winning,  more 
calculated  to  secure  the  confidence  of  men,  more  un- 
speakably touching  and  affecting,  than  the  mode  in 
which  God  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son. 
But,  in  thus  offering  himself  as  the  object  of  affec- 
tion to  man,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  God  has  made 
provision,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  both  for  his 
holiness  and  his  happiness.  It  is  impossible  that  we 
should  truly  love  Him,  without  being  conformed  and 
assimilated  to  his  character.  The  moment  the  first 
throb  of  affection  is  felt,  that  process  must  begin, 
spoken  of  by  the  apostle,  where  he  says,    "We  all, 


LECTURE    V.  155 

bcliolding  as  in  a  glass  tlie  glory  of  tlie  Lord,  are 
changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even 
as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  And  when  this  process 
is  once  commenced,  through  the  operation  of  the 
great  principle  that  we  become  morally  conformed  to 
that  which  we  contemplate  with  delight,  it  will  go  on  to 
its  consummation.  Nor,  if  we  can  contemplate  them 
separately,  is  provision  less  made  in  this  way  for  hap- 
piness than  for  holiness  —  since  the  happiness  derived 
from  the  affections  must  arise  from  their  exercise,  and 
since  the  highest  conceivable  happiness  would  arise 
from  the  perfect  love  of  such  a  being  as  God.  It  is  in 
this  way  only  that  God  can  become  the  portion  of  the 
soul ;  and  thus  he  may  become  its  infinite  and  only 
adequate  portion.  Let  the  affections  rest  upon  a  per- 
fect being,  and  happiness,  so  far  as  it  can  be  derived 
from  them,  will  be  complete ;  but  when  their  object  is 
not  only  perfect,  but  infinite  and  unchangeable,  then 
is  there  provision  both  for  perfect  happiness,  and  for 
its  perpetuity  and  augmentation  forever. 

Here,  then,  we  find  a  mark  which  must  belong  to  a 
religion  from  God.  From  our  present  knowledge  of 
the  faculties  of  man,  and  of  their  relations  to  each 
other,  and  of  the  conditions  on  which  alone  they  can 
be  improved  and  perfected,  we  see  that  a  rehgion 
which  is  to  elevate  man,  and  make  him  either  holy 
or  happy,  must  present  God  as  the  object  of  love,  and 
provide  for  the  assimilation  of  the  character  of  man  to 
his  character. 

But  what  of  this  love  do  we  find  provided  for,  or  pos- 
sible, out  of  Christianity  ?  Absolutely  nothing.  The 
love  of  God  never  entered  as  an  element  into  any 
heathen  religion ;  nor,  with  their  conceptions  of  God 


156  LECTURE    V, 

was  it  possible  it  should.  The  affections,  as  ah-eadj 
stated,  are  drawn  forth  by  moral  excellence,  especially 
when  manifested  in  our  behalf.  Was  it  possible,  then, 
on  either  of  these  grounds,  that  the  Jupiter,  or  Pluto, 
or  Bacchus,  of  old,  should  be  loved?  Were  their  moral 
characters  even  reputable  ?  Did  they  ever  make  dis- 
interested sacrifices  for  the  good  of  men  ?  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  the  present  Hindoos  should  love,  on  either 
of  these  grounds,  any  being  or  thing  that  is  presented 
for  their  worship  ?  According  to  the  very  constitution 
of  our  minds,  it  is  impossible.  The  objects  of  wor- 
ship are  neither  in  themselves,  nor  in  their  relations  to 
man,  adapted  to  draw  out  the  affections.  Again,  is  it 
possible  that  the  affections  should  be  strongly  moved 
by  the  God  of  the  deist,  who  manifests  himself  only 
through  general  lav.s  that  bring  all  things  alike  to  all, 
who  never  speaks  to  his  creatures,  or  makes  himself 
known  as  the  hearer  of  prayer  ?  I  think  not.  Who 
ever  heard  of  a  devout  deist  ?  Who  ever  heard  of 
one  who  was  willing  to  spend  his  life  in  missionary 
labor  for  the  good  of  others  ?  It  is  not  according  to 
the  constitution  of  the  mind  that  such  a  system  should 
awaken  the  affections.  And  what  is  true  of  these 
systems  is  true  of  every  false  system.  All  such  sys- 
tems leave  the  heart  cold,  and,  accordingly,  exert  very 
little  genuine  transforming  power  over  the  life. 

And  this,  again,  leads  me  to  observe,  thirdly,  that 
Christianity  is  adapted  to  the  affections,  from  the  place 
it  assigns  to  love  as  the  governing  principle  of  action. 
Moral  order  requires  obedience  to  God.  But  what  is 
that  obedience  which  can  honor  God  and  make  him 
who  renders  it  happy?  Plainly,  it  is  not  a  selfish, 
external  obedience,  which  would  be  wicked;   not  an 


LECTURE    V.  157 

obedience  from  fear, — for  all  "fear  hath  torment;" 
but  it  can  be  only  an  intelligent  and  an  affectionate 
obedience.  Such  an  obedience  would  honor  God,  and 
make  him  who  rendered  it  hapjjy.  There  is  in  it  no 
element  of  degradation  or  slavish  subjection.  On  the 
contrary,  as  the  whole  intellect,  and  conscience,  and 
heart,  cons})ire  together  in  such  an  act,  performed  with 
reference  to  the  will  of  such  a  Being,  it  must  elevate 
the  mind.  It  is  the  only  possible  manner  in  which  we 
can  conceive  a  rational  creature  to  act  so  as  to  honor 
God,  and  make  himself  hapi)y ;  and,  therefore,  that 
system  of  religion  which  is  so  constructed,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  human  mind,  as  to  produce  intelligent  and 
affectionate  obedience  in  the  highest  degree,  must  be 
the  true  religion,  and  no  other  is  possible.  Now,  we 
certainly  can  see  that  no  heathen  system  can  pro- 
duce such  obedience,  and  that  the  Christian  sys- 
tem is  adapted  to  produce  it  in  the  highest  possible 
degree. 

But  I  observe,  once  more,  that  Christianity  is  adapt- 
ed to  the  affections  from  its  representations  of  a  future 
state.  It  does  not,  like  Hindooism,  or  Pantheism, 
represent  man  as  absorbed  into  the  Deity,  nor,  like 
Mohammedanism,  as  engrossed  in  sensuality  ;  but  it 
represents  heaven  as  a  social  state  of  pure  and  holy 
affection.  It  does  not,  indeed,  tell  us  that  we  shall 
recognize  there  our  earthly  kindred,  though  it  leaves 
us  no  ground  to  doubt  this ;  but  it  tells  us  of  a 
Father's  house,  and  of  the  one  family  of  the  good 
who  shall  be  gathered  there,  and  to  whom  we  shall 
be  united  in  nearer  bonds  than  those  of  earth.  What 
possible  representation  could  be  better  adapted  to  a 
being    endowed   with    affections  ?  —  the    one    infinite 


158  LECTURE   V. 

Father  and  Redeemer  of  his  creatures,  and  the  united 
family  of  all  the  good  ! 

We  next  proceed  to  the  imagination.  And  I  ob- 
serve that  Christianity  is  no  less  adapted  to  this  than 
to  the  conscience,  the  intellect,  or  the  affections. 
The  imagination  is  a  source  of  enjoyment ;  a  spring 
of  activity;  and  an  efficient  agent  in  moulding  the 
character  :  and  any  system  may  be  said  to  be  adapt- 
ed to  it  which  is  calculated  to  give  it  the  highest  and 
purest  enjoyment,  and  so  to  direct  the  activity  which 
it  excites  as  to  mould  the  character  into  the  finest 
form. 

Looking  at  the  imagination  simply  as  a  source  of 
enjoyment,  that  system  will  be  best  adapted  to  it 
which  contains  the  most  elements  of  beauty  and  sub- 
limity, and  which  leaves  for  their  combination  the 
widest  range.  And  in  this  respect,  certainly  noth- 
ing can  exceed  Christianity.  There  are  no  conceiv- 
able scenes  of  grandeur  equal  to  those  connected  with 
the  general  judgment  and  the  final  conflagration  of 
this  world  ;  no  scenes  of  beauty  like  those  connected 
with  the  new  Jerusalem  —  with  the  abodes  and  the 
employments  of  those  who  shall  be  sons  and  heirs 
of  God,  and  to  whom  the  whole  creation  will  be 
given,  so  far  as  it  may  be  subservient  to  their  enjoy- 
ment. And  if  the  present  scene  is  filled  up  with  so 
much  of  beauty  and  sublimity,  what  imagination  can 
conceive  of  the  splendors  of  that  world  whose  external 
decorations  shall  correspond  with  its  spiritual  glory  ? 
Let  no  one  say,  then,  that  Christianity  would  repress 
the  imagination ;  or  that  God  did  not  intend  that 
imagination,  and   poetry,  and  the  exertion  of  every 


LECTURE   V.  159 

faculty  which  brings  with  it  what  is  beautiful  and 
pleasing,  should  be  connected  with  it.  He  did  in- 
tend it ;  he  has  made  provision  for  it,  and  that  not  in 
this  life  only.  There  will  be  poetry  in  heaven  ;  its 
numbers  will  measure  the  anthems  that  swell  there. 
There  will  be  imagination  there.  This  is  no  imper- 
tinent faculty,  given,  as  some  seem  to  suppose,  only 
to  be  chided  and  repressed.  No  ;  its  wang,  however 
strong,  will  always  find  room  enough  in  the  illimita- 
ble universe  and  the  unfathomed  perfections  of  God. 
But  it  is  chiefly  of  the  imagination  as  prompting  to 
activity  that  I  would  speak.  "  The  faculty  of  imagi- 
nation," says  Stewart,  "  is  the  great  spring  of  human 
activity,  and  the  principal  source  of  human  improve- 
ment. As  it  delights  in  presenting  to  the  mind  scenes 
and  characters  more  perfect  than  those  which  we  are 
acquainted  with,  it  prevents  us  from  ever  being  com- 
pletely satisfied  with  our  present  condition  or  with 
our  past  attainments,  and  engages  us  continually  in 
the  pursuit  of  some  untried  enjoyment,  or  of  some 
ideal  excellence."  Again  he  says,  "  Tired  and  dis- 
gusted with  this  world  of  imperfection,  we  delight  to 
escape  to  another  of  the  poet's  creation,  where  the 
charms  of  nature  wear  an  eternal  bloom,  and  where 
sources  of  enjoyment  are  opened  to  us  suited  to  the 
vast  capacities  of  the  human  mind.  On  this  natural 
love  of  poetical  fiction  Lord  Bacon  has  founded  a  very 
ingenious  argument  for  the  soul's  immortalit}^ ;  and, 
indeed,  one  of  the  most  important  purposes  to  which 
it  is  subservient  is  to  elevate  the  mind  above  the  pur- 
suits of  our  present  condition,  and  to  direct  the  views 
to  higher  objects."  *     With  this  representation  of  the 

*  Elements,  vol.  i.  chap.  7. 


160  LECTURE   V. 

office  and  importance  of  this  faculty  I  agree  in  the 
main  ;  but,  instead  of  a  world  of  the  poet's  creation 
for  it  to  range  in,  I  would  have  one  of  God's  creation. 
Certainly  we  can,  by  means  of  this  faculty,  form  to 
ourselves  models  of  individual  excellence,  and  of  what 
we  may  conceive  to  be  a  perfect  state  of  things,  which 
shall  essentially  guide  our  activity  and  affect  our  char- 
acter and  influence.  But  here,  no  less  than  in  the 
intellect,  does  all  experience  show  that  we  need  to 
find  the  thought  of  God  as  a  model  and  guide  to  this 
formative  power.  Left  to  itself,  how  many  false  stan- 
dards of  character  has  it  set  up  !  How  many  Utopian 
schemes  has  it  originated  !  IIow  little  has  it  ever 
conceived  of  individual  excellence,  or  of  an  ultimate 
and  perfect  state  of  things,  worthy  of  God  or  having 
a  tendency  to  exalt  man  !  Witness  the  heathen  gods 
and  representations  of  heaven  ;  the  classic  fables  ;  the 
speculations  of  Plato,  even,  respecting  a  future  state  ; 
the  Hindoo  mythology,  and  transmigration  ;  and  the 
Mohammedan  paradise.  These  are  to  that  future, 
and  to  that  heaven  which  God  has  revealed,  what 
the  conjectures  and  systems  of  ancient  astronomers 
were  to  the  true  system  of  the  physical  heavens.  Not 
more  do  the  heavens  of  true  science  exceed  those 
imagined  by  man, —  not  more  does  the  actual  milky 
way,  composed  of  a  stratum  of  suns  lying  rank  above 
rank,  exceed  that  conception  of  it  which  imputed 
its  origin  to  the  infant  Hercules,  when  he  was  nurs- 
ed, —  than  the  glory  of  the  millennial  day,  and  the 
purity  and  grandeur  of  the  Christian  heaven,  exceed 
any  future  ever  imagined  by  man,  and  adopted  as  the 
basis  of  a  religion  invented  by  him.  In  both  cases, 
in  the    moral  no   less   than   in  the   physical   heavens, 


LECTURE    V.  IGl 

we  need  to  have  given  us  tlie  outline  as  sketched  by 
God,  and  then  it  is  tlie  nobU^st  work  of  the  imagina- 
tion to  fill  it  up. 

Christianity  alone  furnishes  the  model  of  a  perfect 
manhood,  and  the  true  elements  of  social  perfection  ; 
it  alone  furnishes  to  the  imagination  a  representation 
of  a  perfect  state  on  earth  ;  and  it  unfolds  the  gates 
of  a  heaven,  at  whose  entrance  it  can  only  stand  and 
exclaim,  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him  !"  It  is 
therefore  perfectly  adapted  to  the  imagination,  so  for 
as  that  is  a  faculty  which  leads  to  activity  by  setting 
before  us  ideal  excellence  which  we  may  attempt  to 
realize  in  actual  life. 

Before  leaving  this  point,  I  may  just  say  that  Chris- 
tianity does  not,  like  systems  of  philosophy,  present 
us  with  an  ideal  excellence  withoDt  showing  us  how 
to  attain  it.  The  obedience  of  its  precepts  would 
realize  the  excellence  it  portrays ;  and  it  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that  thus,  and  thus  only,  can  there  be 
brought  out,  into  the  bold  relief  of  actual  life,  the 
visions  of  those  ancient  prophets  whose  imaginations 
were  fired  by  these  scenes  of  grandeur  and  of  beauty. 

It  now  only  remains  to  speak  of  Christianity  as 
adapted  to  the  will.  A  system  may  be  adapted  to 
the  will  of  man  by  flattering  his  pride,  by  taking 
advantage  of  his  weaknesses,  by  indulging  his  cor- 
ruptions ;  and  in  this  sense  false  systems  have  been 
adapted  to  it  with  great  skill.  But,  properly  speaking, 
a  system  is  adapted  to  the  will  of  a  rational  and  moral 
being  when  it  is  so  constructed  that  it  must  necessarily 

21 


162  LECTURE    V. 

control  the  will  in  proportion  as  reason  and  con- 
science prevail.  This  is  a  point  of  high  importance, 
because,  the  will  being  that  in  man  which  is  per- 
sonal and  executive,  nothing  is  cfifected  till  this  is 
reached;  and  the  system  which  cannot  legitimately 
control  this  may  have  every  other  adaptation,  and  yet 
be  good  for  nothing. 

1  observe,  then,  first,  that  Christianity  is  adapted  to 
the  will  because  it  provides  for  the  pardon  of  sin,  and 
for  divine   aid  in  the  great  struggle  in  w^hich  it  calls 
upon  us-  to  engage.     I  remarked,  w  hen  speaking  of  the 
intellect,  that  Christianity  was  adapted  to  it  because  it 
relieved  it  from  the  incubus  of  vice.     It  is  much  in  the 
same  way  that  it  acts  here   in  reference  to  the  will. 
The  will  of  man   never  acts  when   the  attainment  of 
his  object  is  absolutely  hopeless ;  and  a  sense  of  par- 
doned sin,  and   a   hope   of  divine  aid,   if   not  imme- 
diate motives,  yet    come    in    as    conditions  on  which 
alone  the  will  can  be  brought  up  to  the  great  struggle 
of  the  Christian  warfare.     Without  these,  a  mind  truly 
enlightened  w^ould   rest  under  a  discouragement    that 
w^ould  forever  paralyze  effort. 

I  observe,  secondly,  that  Christianity  is  adapted  to 
the  will  because  it  is  adapted  to  the  affections.  I  do 
not,  as  some  have  done,  regard  the  will  and  the  affec- 
tions as  the  same.  They  are,  however,  intimately  con- 
nected ;  and  the  affections  being,  as  I  have  said,  the 
only  source  of  disinterested  action  and  of  happy  moral 
obedience,  it  is  evident  that,  just  in  proportion  as  any 
system  takes  a  strong  hold  of  them,  it  must  be  adapted 
to  move  the  will.  It  is  not  enough  to  know  our  duty, 
and  to  wish  to  do  it  simply  as  duty.  We  need  to  have 
it  associated  with  the  impulses  of  the  affections,  with 


LECTURE    V.  163 

that  love  of  God,  and  of  man,  implanted  in  the  heart, 
which  are  the  first  and  the  second  great  moral  pre- 
cepts of  Christianity,  and  which,  where  they  reign, 
must  induce  a  happy  obedience. 

I  observe,  thirdly,  that  Christianity  is  adapted  to  the 
will  from  the  grandeur  of  those  interests  which  it  pre- 
sents, and  from  its  amazing  sanctions.  Here  it  is 
unrivalled.  Here  every  thing  takes  hold  on  infinity 
and  eternity.  Here  the  greatness  of  man  as  a  spiritual 
and  an  immortal  being  assumes  its  proper  place,  and 
throws  into  the  shade  all  the  motives  and  the  interests 
of  time.  Its  language  is,  "What  shall  it  profit  a  man, 
if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul ; 
or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  ?  " 
It  makes  the  will  of  God  our  rule  ;  it  places  us  under 
his  omniscient  eye ;  it  points  us  forward  to  the  tribunal 
of  an  omnipotent  Judge,  to  a  sentence  of  unmixed  jus- 
tice, and  a  reward  of  matchless  grace.  Nothing  can 
be  more  alluring,  on  the  one  hand,  or  more  terrific,  on 
the  other,  than  its  descriptions  of  the  consequences  of 
human  conduct.  It  speaks  of  "  eternal  life  ;  "  of  being 
the  "  sons  and  heirs  of  God  ;  "  of  a  "  crown  of  life ;  " 
of  "  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away."  It  speaks,  also,  of  "  the  black- 
ness of  darkness  forever ;  "  of  "  the  worm  that  dieth 
not,  and  the  fire  that  is  not  quenched."  Laying  aside, 
then,  the  affections,  and  looking  solely  at  the  direct  mo- 
tives of  duty  and  of  interest  which  it  presents,  surely 
no  other  system  can  be  so  adapted  to  move  the  will  as 
this,  when  it  is  really  believed. 

I  observe,  finally,  that  Christianity  is  adapted  to  the 
will,  and  to  the  whole  emotive  nature  of  man,  because 
its    teachings    respecting   the    character   of   God    and 


164  LECTURE    V. 

human  duty  are  not  by  general  and  abstract  proposi- 
tions, but  by  facts,  and  by  manifestations  in  action. 
At  this  point  Christianity  is  strongly  contrasted  with 
natural  religion,  and  with  every  thing  that  tends 
towards  pantheism.  "  It  is,  indeed,"  says  Erskine, 
"a  striking,  and  yet  an  undoubted  fact,  that  we  are 
comparatively  little  affected  with  abstract  truths  in 
morahty."  "  A  single  definite  and  intelligible  action 
gives  a  vividness  and  a  power  to  the  idea  of  that  moral 
character  which  it  exhibits,  beyond  what  could  be  con- 
veyed by  a  multitude  of  abstract  descriptions.  Thus 
the  abstract  ideas  of  patriotism  and  integrity  make  but 
an  uninteresting  appearance  when  contrasted  with  the 
high  spectacle  of  heroic  worth  which  was  exhibited  in 
the  conduct  of  Regulus,  when,  in  the  senate  of  his 
country,  he  raised  his  solitary  voice  against  those 
humbling  propositions  of  Carthage,  which,  if  acqui- 
esced in,  would  have  restored  him  to  liberty,  and  which 
for  that  single  reason  had  almost  gained  an  acqui- 
escence ;  and  then,  unsubdued  alike  by  the  frantic 
entreaties  of  his  family,  the  weeping  solicitations  of 
the  admiring  citizens,  and  the  appalling  terrors  of  his 
threatened  fate,  he  returned  to  Africa,  rather  than 
violate  his  duty  to  Rome  and  the  sacredness  of 
truth."  "  In  the  same  way,  the  abstract  views  of  the 
divine  character,  drawn  from  the  observation  of  nature, 
are  in  general  rather  visions  of  the  intellect  than 
eff  cient  moral  principles  in  the  heart  and  conduct ; 
and,  however  true  they  may  be,  are  uninteresting  and 
unexciting  when  compared  with  the  vivid  exhibition 
of  them  in  a  history  of  definite  and  intelligible  action. 
To  assist  our  weakness,  therefore,  and  to  accommodate 
his   instructions  to  the   principles   of  our  nature,  God 


LECTURE    V.  105 

has  been  pleased  to  present  us  a  most  interesting  series 
of  actions,  in  which  his  moral  character,  as  far  as  we 
are  concerned,  is  fully  and  perspicuously  imbodied." 

So  great  is  this  difference,  as  ideas  are  presented  in 
diiilerent  modes,  that  an  idea  or  a  principle  may  be 
apparently  received,  and  approved,  in  its  abstract  form, 
which  shall  not  be  recognized  as  the  same  when  it 
takes  the  form  of  action.  "A  corrupt  politician,  for 
instance,  can  speculate  on  and  a])plaud  the  abstract 
idea  of  integrity  ;  but  when  this  abstract  idea  takes 
the  form  of  a  man  and  a  course  of  action,  it  ceases  to 
be  that  harmless  and  welcome  visitor  it  used  to  be, 
and  draws  on  itself  the  decided  enmity  of  its  former 
apparent  friend."  "  In  the  same  way,  many  men 
will  admit  the  abstract  idea  of  a  God  of  infmite  holi- 
ness and  goodness,  and  will  even  take  delight  in  ex- 
ercising their  reason  or  their  taste  in  speculating  on 
the  subject  of  his  being  and  attributes  ;  yet  these 
same  persons  will  shrink  with  dislike  and  alarm  from 
the  living  energy  which  this  abstract  idea  assumes  in 
the  Bible."  *  The  great  object  of  Erskine  is  to  show, 
first,  that  there  is  this  difference  between  ideas  thus 
presented  ;  and,  secondly,  that  God  has  made  in  action 
such  manifestations  of  himself  as  must,  if  they  are 
believed,  bring  the  character  into  conformity  with  his. 
Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  second  proposition, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  principle  involved  in  the 
first ;  nor  of  the  fact  that  the  emotive  nature  of  man 
is  addressed,  in  accordance  wdth  it,  both  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  in  the  New.  All  that  series  of  mighty 
acts  w  hich  God  performed  in  behalf  of  the  Israelites  — 
the  deliverance  from  Egypt,  the  giving  of  the  law,  the 

*  Internal  Evidence- 


166  LECTURE    V. 

passage  through  tlie  wilderness  and  through  Jordan  — 
could  not  but  affect  their  hearts  and  wills  infinitely 
more  than  they  could  have  been  by  any  description  of 
God,  or  by  any  mere  precepts.  Probably  it  was  better 
adapted  than  any  thing  else  could  have  been  to  give 
that  people  correct  ideas  of  God,  and  to  lead  them 
to  a  full  and  joyful  obedience  of  his  commandments. 
And  so  the  great  fact  of  the  New  Testament,  that 
"  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-begot- 
ten Son,"  and  the  example  of  our  Saviour,  "who  loved 
us  and  gave  himself  for  us,"  have  ever  been  among  its 
most  powerful  and  constraining  motives.  They  have, 
in  fact,  been  those  without  which  no  others  would  have 
been  of  any  avail. 

Whether,  then,  we  consider  its  offers  of  pardon  and 
of  aid  ;  its  connection  with  the  affections  ;  the  power 
of  its  direct  motives  ;  or  its  mode  of  appeal  by  facts 
and  manifestations  in  action,  —  we  see  that  Christianity 
is  perfectly  adapted  to  the  will  of  man. 


LECTURE    VI. 


CHRISTIANITY  AS  A  RESTRAINING  POWER.  —  THE  EXPERI- 
MENTAL EVIDENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY. —  ITS  FITNESS  AND 
TENDENCY  TO  BECOME  UNIVERSAL.  --  IT  HAS  ALWAYS 
BEEN   IN    THE    WORLD. 

Man  is  a  complex  l)eing.  He  has  been  called  the 
microcosm,  or  httle  world,  because,  while  he  has  a 
distinctive  nature  of  his  o\vn,  he  is  a  partaker  and  rep- 
resentative of  every  thing  in  the  inferior  creation.  In 
him  are  united  the  material  and  the  spiritual,  the  ani- 
mal and  the  rational.  He  has  instincts,  propensities, 
desires,  passions,  by  which  he  is  allied  to  the  animals ; 
he  has  also  reason,  conscience,  free-will,  by  which  he  is 
allied  to  higher  intelligences  and  to  God.  Hence  the 
ends  he  is  capable  of  choosing,  and  the  principles  by 
which  he  may  be  actuated,  are  very  various.  Body  and 
soul,  reason  and  passion,  conscience  and  desire,  often 
seem  to  be,  and  are,  opposing  forces,  and  man  is  left 

"  In  doubt  to  act  or  rest, 
In  doubt  to  deem  himself  a  god  or  beast, 
In  doubt  his  soul  or  body  to  prefer." 

*'  The  intestine  war  of  reason  against  the  passions," 
says  Pascal,  "  has  given  rise,  among  those  who  wish  lor 
peace,  to  the  formation  of  two  different  sects.  The 
one  wished  to  renounce  the  passions,  and  be  as  gods  ; 
the  other  to  renounce  reason,  and  become  beasts." 


168  LECTURE    VI. 

With  this  wide  range  of  faculties,  and  consequent 
variety  of  impulses  and  motives,  in  the  individual,  and 
especially  when  we  consider  the  variety  of  his  social 
relations,  we  may  well  say  that,  if  any  problem  was 
beyond  human  skill,  it  was  the  choice  of  ends,  and  the 
arrangement  of  means  and  motives,  —  the  contrivance 
of  a  system  of  excitement,  and  guidance,  and  re- 
straint, —  which  should  harmonize  these  jarring  ele- 
ments, and  cause  every  wheel  in  the  vast  machinery  of 
human  society  to  move  freely  and  without  interference. 
Accordhigly,  whether  we  look  at  the  faculties  excited, 
or  at  the  ends  to  which  they  have  been  directed,  or 
at  the  restraints  imposed,  we  find  in  all  human  sys- 
tems a  great  want  of  adaptation  to  the  nature  of  man. 
Excitement,  guidance,  restraint,  —  these  are  what  man 
needs ;  and  a  system  which  should  so  combine  them  as 
to  lead  him,  in  its  legitimate  influence,  to  his  true  per- 
fection and  end,  would  be  adapted  to  his  whole  nature. 
I  have  already  spoken  of  the  power  of  Christianity  to 
excite  and  to  guide  some  of  the  principal  faculties.  I 
now  proceed  to  make  some  observations  upon  it  as  a 
restraining  power. 

There  is  no  natural  principle  of  action  which  re- 
quires to  be  eradicated,  but  there  are  many  which 
require  to  be  directed,  subordinated,  and  restrained. 
There  are  principles  of  our  nature,  which  conduce 
only  to  our  well-being  when  acting  within  prescribed 
limits,  which  become  the  source  of  vice  and  wretched- 
ness when  those  limits  are  overstepped.  But  to  put 
the  check  upon  each  particular  wheel,  precisely  at  the 
point  at  wliich  its  motion  would  become  too  rapid  for 
the  movement  of  the  whole,  requires  a  skill  beyond 
that  of  man. 


LECTURE    VI.  169 

To  fix,  for  exam])le,  the  limits  within  which,  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  iiulividiuil  and  of  society,  the  a})- 
petites  should  be  restrained,  requires  a  knowledge  of 
the  human  frame,  and  of  the  relations  of  society,  which 
no  philosopher,  unenlightened  by  the  Bible,  has  ever 
shown.  I  need  not  say  how  essential  it  is  to  the  well- 
being  of  any  community  that  these  limits  should  be 
rightly  fixed.  If  there  is  too  much  restraint,  society  be- 
comes secretly,  and  often  hopelessly,  corrupt;  to  other 
sins  the  guilt  of  hypocrisy  is  added,  and  sanctimonious 
bcentiousness  —  the  most  odious  of  all  its  forms  —  be- 
comes common.  If  there  is  too  little  restraint,  vice 
walks  abroad  with  an  unblushing  front,  and  glories  in 
its  shame.  The  state  of  the  ancient  heathen  world 
is  described  by  the  apostle  in  the  first  of  Romans. 
The  accuracy  of  that  description  is  remarkably  con- 
firmed by  testimony  from  heathen  writers,  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  all  impartial  travellers,  that 
chapter  is  true,  to  the  letter,  of  the  heathen  of  the 
present  day.  The  tendency  of  human  nature  to  sen- 
suality, in  some  form,  is  so  strong  that  no  false  religion 
has  ever  dared  to  lay  its  hand  upon  it,  in  all  its  forms. 
Mohammed,  it  is  well  known,  did  not  interfere  essen- 
tially with  the  customs  of  his  country  in  this  respect ; 
and,  in  fact,  all  his  rewards  and  motives  to  religious 
activity  were  based  on  an  appeal  to  the  sensitive,  and 
not  to  the  rational  and  spiritual  part  of  man.  In  in- 
stances not  a  few,  the  grossest  sensuality  has  been 
made  a  part  of  religion  ;  and,  in  almost  all  cases,  the 
voluptuary  has  been  sufibred  to  remain  undisturbed,  or 
has  been  led  to  commute,  by  offerings,  for  indulgence 
in  vice. 

Those,  on  the  other  hand,  who  have  recognized  the 

22 


170  LECTURE    VI. 

higher  nature  of  man,  and  have  felt  that  there  was 
something  noble  in  the  subjugation  of  the  animal  part 
of  the  frame,  have  been  excessive.  Instead  of  regu- 
lating the  appetites,  they  have  attempted  to  extermi- 
nate them  ;  and  the  mass  of  their  followers  have  been 
ambitious,  corrupt,  and  hypocritical.  "Nothing,"  says 
Isaac  Taylor,  "  has  been  more  constant  in  the  history 
of  the  human  mind,  wherever  the  rehgious  emotions 
have  gained  a  supremacy  over  the  sensual  and  sordid 
passions,  than  the  breaking  out  of  the  ascetic  temper, 
in  some  of  its  forms  ;  and  most  often  in  that  which 
disguises  virtue,  now  as  a  spectre,  now  as  a  maniac, 
now  as  a  mendicant,  now  as  a  slave,  but  never  as  the 
bright  daughter  of  heaven."  * 

But  not  only  have  men  framed  systems  of  religion 
which  allowed  of  sensuality,  —  not  only  have  they  at- 
tempted to  subdue  the  animal  nature  altogether,  — 
they  have  also  ingrafted  sensuality  upon  self-torture. 
There  is  in  man  a  sense  of  guilt ;  and,  connected  with 
this,  the  idea  has  been  almost  universal  that  suffering, 
or  personal  sacrifice,  had,  in  some  way,  an  efficacy  to 
make  atonement  for  it.  Hence  the  costly  offerings  of 
heathen  nations  to  their  gods  ;  hence  their  bloody  rites, 
the  offering  up  of  human  victims,  and  even  of  their 
own  children.  But  when  once  the  principle  was 
established  that  personal  suffering  could  do  away  sin, 
then  a  door  was  opened  for  license  to  sin  ;  and  hence 
the  monstrous,  and  apparently  inconsistent  spectacle, 
so  often  witnessed,  of  sensuality  walking  hand  in  hand 
with  self-torture. 

In  opposition  to  these  corruptions  and  distortions, 

*  Lectures  on  Spiritual  Christianity. 


LECTURE    VI.  171 

how  simple,  how  ck^aily  in  accordance  with  the 
original  institutions  and  the  evident  intentions  of  God, 
are  the  principles  of  Christianity  !  Christ  assumed  no 
sanctity  in  indifferent  things,  such  as  that  by  which 
the  Pharisees  sought  to  distinguish  themselves.  He 
swept  away,  without  hesitation  or  compromise,  the 
rabbinical  superstitions  and  slavish  exactions  which 
had  been  ingrafted  on  the  Jewish  law.  He  came 
"  eating  and  drinking."  He  declared  that  that  which 
entereth  into  a  man  doth  not  defile  him.  He  sanctioned 
marriage,  and  gave  it  an  honor  and  a  sacredness  little 
known  before,  by  declaring  it  an  institution  of  divine 
origin,  which  w^as  appointed  in  the  beginning.  "  The 
superiority  of  the  soul  to  the  body  was  the  very  purport 
of  his  doctrine ;  and  yet  he  did  not  waste  the  body 
by  any  austerities  !  The  duty  of  self-denial  he  per- 
petually enforced ;  and  yet  he  practised  no  factitious 
mortifications  !  This  teacher,  not  of  abstinence,  but  of 
virtue,  —  this  reprover,  not  of  enjoyment,  but  of  vice, — 
himself  went  in  and  out,  among  the  social  amenities 
of  ordinary  life,  with  so  unsolicitous  a  freedom  as  to 
give  color  to  the  malice  of  hypocrisy  in  pointing  the 
finger  at  him,  saying,  'Behold  a  gluttonous  man  and 
a  wine-bibber  ;  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners  ! '  "  * 
But,  while  he  did  this,  he  did  not  yield  at  all  to  the 
prejudices  and  vices  of  the  age,  but  forbade  all  im- 
purity, even  in  thought.  The  teaching  and  course 
of  the  apostles  was  marked  by  the  same  wisdom. 
Paul  asserts,  in  relation  to  meats,  that  every  creature 
of  God  is  good,  and  to  be  received  with  thanksgiving  ; 
and  says  of  marriage,  that  it  is  honorable  in  all ;  while, 

*  Lectures  on  Spiritual  Christianity. 


172  LECTURE   VI. 

at  the  same  time,  he  ranks  drinikenness,  and  gluttony, 
and  impurity,  among  those  sins  which  will  exclude 
a  man  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  He  was  a 
preacher  of  temperance,  as  well  as  of  righteousness 
and  of  a  judgment  to  come,  and  insisted  upon  that 
temperance  in  all  things. 

Nor  are  the  prohibitions  and  restraints  of  Christian- 
ity laid  with  less  discrimination  upon  the  malevolent 
and  selfish  passions,  —  as  anger,  malice,  envy,  revenge, 
of  the  first ;  and  vanity,  pride,  and  ambition,  of  the 
second.  These,  with  the  exception  of  anger,  it  abso- 
lutely prohibits ;  and  it  prohibits  that,  so  far  as  it  is 
malevolent.  It  distinguishes  between  the  holy  indiff- 
nation  which  must  be  excited  by  wickedness,  and  any 
mere  personal  feeling,  or  desire  to  inflict  pain  for  its 
own  sake ;  and  hence  it  speaks  of  Christ  as  looking 
on  men  "  with  anger,  being  grieved  for  the  hardness 
of  their  hearts,"  and  it  commands  us  to  "  be  angry  and 
sin  not." 

Of  the  propriety  of  an  absolute  prohibition  of  the 
malevolent  feelings,  probably  few  at  this  day  will  doubt. 
They  are  dissocial,  and  are  destructive  alike  of  the 
happiness  of  him  who  indulges  them  and  of  those 
against  whom  they  are  indulged.  It  is  impossible  that 
a  man,  in  whose  breast  they  bear  sway,  should  be 
happy;  and,  so  far  as  their  influence  extends  to  others, 
they  produce  unhappiness  of  course.  We  cannot  con- 
ceive of  them  as  entering  heaven,  which  would  no 
longer  be  heaven  if  they  were  there,  nor  of  their 
having  a  place  in  a  perfect  society  on  earth. 

Nor,  if  we  analyze  them  fairly,  can  there  be  more 
room  to  doubt  the  propriety  of  prohibiting  what  I  have 
called  the  selfish  passions  —  as  vanity,  pride,  and  ambi- 


LECTURE    VI.  173 

tioii.  Vanity,  notwithstanding  the  commendation  of  it 
by  Hume  as  a  virtue,  will  be  condemned  by  all  as 
weak,  if  not  wicked ;  and  if  we  regard  pride  and 
ambition  as  the  love  of  superiority  for  its  own  sake, 
and  of  ruling  over  others,  we  must  see  that  they  are 
both  sellish  and  mischievous.  By  confounding  pride 
with  true  dignity,  and  ambition  with  the  love  of  excel- 
lence, some  have  been  led  to  suppose  that  these  were 
necessary  elements  in  an  efficient  and  elevated  charac- 
ter. But  Christianity  fully  recognizes  the  distinction 
between  these  qualities  ;  and  while  it  asserts,  far  be- 
yond any  other  system,  the  true  dignity  of  man  ;  while 
it  sets  before  him  the  pursuit  of  an  excellence,  and  the 
objects  of  an  ambition,  which  must  call  forth  every 
energy,  though  their  attainment  implies  no  inferiority 
on  the  part  of  others;  it  prohibits,  and,  by  its  doctrines 
and  very  structure,  eradicates  every  selfish  element  of 
what  are  usually  called  pride  and  ambition.  It  is, 
indeed,  a  great  distinction  and  glory  of  Christianity, 
that  its  objects  of  pursuit  and  its  sources  of  enjoyment 
are  like  the  sunlight  and  the  air,  which  are  free  to  all ; 
and  that  the  highest  attainments  of  one  have  no  tend- 
ency to  diminish  the  happiness  of  others. 

1  mention  another  strong  principle  of  action  —  the 
desire  of  property,  which  Christianity  regulates  wisely. 
Recognizing  the  inadequacy  of  property  to  meet  the 
wants  of  a  spiritual  being,  it  prohibits  covetousness  as 
idolatry,  and  exhorts  the  rich  not  to  trust  in  uncertain 
riches,  but  in  the  living  God.  At  the  same  time  it 
forbids  indolence,  requiring  industry  and  frugality;  and 
when,  by  means  of  these,  or  by  any  other  means, 
property  is  acquired,  it  commands  us  to  do  good,  to  be 
"  ready  to  distribute,  willing    to  communicate."     He 


174  LECTURE   VT. 

that  stole  is  to  steal  no  more,  but  is  to  labor,  work- 
ing with  his  hands,  that  he  may  have  to  give  to  him 
that  needeth.  Thus  would  Christianity  transform 
every  lazy,  thievish  pest  of  society  into  an  industrious, 
useful,  and  liberal  man.  It  is  also  worthy  of  remark 
how  careful  Christianity  is  to  guard  its  ministers 
against  the  love  of  money,  and  how  entirely  free  it  is, 
as  we  find  it  in  the  New  Testament,  from  holding  out 
any  inducement  to  the  people  to  build  up  rich  and 
pompous  religious  establishments.  Its  ministers  are 
to  take  the  oversight  of  the  flock,  not  for  filthy  lucre, 
but  of  a  ready  mind.  In  instructing  both  Timothy  and 
Titus  whom  to  ordain,  Paul  mentions  the  love  of  "filthy 
lucre"  as  a  disqualification.  And  while  such  a  motive 
on  the  part  of  the  minister  is  prohibited,  and  would  be 
contrary  to  the  entire  spirit  of  Christianity,  it  never 
speaks  of  the  giving  of  money  to  him  as  peculiarly 
meritorious.  It  provides  for  his  support,  and  makes 
provision  for  that,  simply,  a  common  duty.  Its  ex- 
hortations would  all  lead  men  to  works  of  general 
beneficence,  —  to  give  to  him  that  needeth,  w  hoever  he 
may  be, — and  would  thus  cause  money  to  become  a 
means  of  spiritual  culture  to  him  who  has  it,  as  well  as 
of  blessing  to  him  to  whom  it  is  given. 

I  need  not  speak  further  of  the  particular  things 
which  Christianity  prohibits  and  regulates.  Respect- 
ing them  all,  three  remarks,  of  much  importance,  are 
to  be  made.  The  first  is,  that  these  prohibitions  are 
laid,  not  upon  the  outward  act,  but,  in  all  cases,  upon 
the  spirit  or  temper  from  which  outward  acts  spring. 
Nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that  Christianity 
legislates  for  man  as  a  spiritual  being,  and  the  subject 
of  a  kingdom  in  which  every  secret  thought  is  known, 


LECTURE    VI.  175 

and  every  malicious,  and  covetous,  and  impure  desire 
is  a  crime.  This  has  often  been  mentioned  as  a  proof 
of  the  wisdom  and  superiority  of  the  Christian  system 
of  morals,  because  the  only  possible  way  of  regulating 
the  external  act  is  to  regulate  the  spirit.  But,  how- 
ever wise  and  necessary  this  might  be  in  a  system  of 
morals,  it  was  not  adopted  by  Christianity  as  a  system 
of  morals,  but  because  it  recognizes  man  as  a  member 
of  a  spiritual  kingdom,  in  which  volition  itself  is  action, 
and  character  itself,  and  not  its  outward  manifestation, 
is  the  object  of  legislation.  It  is  far  enough  from 
striking  at  the  principle  of  wickedness  because  this  is 
necessary  to  restrain  the  outward  act ;  but  because 
it  deals  with  realities,  and  not  with  appearances,  and 
is  at  war  with  wickedness  itself,  which  has  no  exist- 
ence in  act  as  distinguished  from  its  principle. 

The  second  remark,  intimately  connected  with  the 
first,  is,  that  Christianity,  considered  as  prohibitory, 
is  not  a  religion  of  mere  precepts,  but  of  principles. 
"  The  New  Testament,"  says  Taylor,  "  contains  vital 
principles ;  not  always  defined  ;  but  w  hich,  as  they 
are  evolved  one  after  another,  and  are  successively 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  opinions  and  manners  of 
Christianized  nations,  do  actually  remove  from  them 
those  flagrant  evils  which  had  accumulated  in  the 
course  of  time,  and  which,  so  long  as  they  are  preva- 
lent, abate  very  much  the  religious  sensibilities  even 
of  those  who  are  the  most  conscientious."  He  says, 
further,  "  that  the  New  Testament,  considered  as  im- 
bodying  a  system  of  morals  for  the  world,  — a  system 
which  is  slowly  to  develop  itself,  until  the  human 
family  has  been  led  by  it  into  the  path  of  peace  and 


176  LECTURE    VI. 

purity,  —  effects  this  great  purpose,  not  by  prohibiting, 
in  so  many  words,  the  evils  it  is  at  length  to  abolish, 
but  by  putting  in  movement  unobtrusive  influences, 
which  nothing,  in  the  end,  shall  be  able  to  with- 
stand." *  It  is  thus  that  Christianity  has  wrought 
the  revolution  in  favor  of  woman  ;  that  it  abolished 
the  ancient  games  and  gladiatorial  contests  ;  that  it 
has  mitigated  the  horrors  of  war ;  that  it  has,  over  a 
large  portion  of  the  earth,  abolished  slavery,  and  that 
it  is  now  hastening  to  bring  it  to  a  full  end.  This 
peculiarity  of  Christianity  gives  it  a  power  of  expan- 
sion, and  of  adaptation  to  all  circumstances,  which 
fits  it  for  man  as  man. 

The  third  remark  is,  that  Christianity  is  a  system 
of  prohibition  and  restraint  only  as  it  is  a  system  of 
excitement  and  guidance.  Plainly,  there  are  two 
kinds  of  self-denial :  the  one  from  fear  — formal,  slavish, 
barren  ;  the  other  from  love  —  blessing  the  spirit,  and 
strengthening  it  in  virtue.  So  far  as  Christianity  re- 
quires self-denial,  it  is  uniformly  and  only  of  this  latter 
kind.  It  does  not  call  men  off  from  the  world,  that 
they  may  sit  sullenly  by  and  envy  others  the  pleasures 
which  they  cannot  share.  If  it  calls  them  at  all,  it 
calls  them  to  something  higher,  purer,  nobler,  happier. 
Its  self-denial  is  that  of  a  son  who  is  laboring  for  the 
support  and  comfort  of  a  mother ;  of  a  mother  who 
denies  herself  that  she  may  educate  a  son  ;  of  a  sol- 
dier who  is  marching  on  to  do  battle  for  liberty  ;  of 
a  racer  who  is  speeding  to  the  goal.  It  is  the  self- 
denial  of  the  great  Howard,  traversing  Europe,  and 
diving  into  dungeons  to  "take  the  gauge  of  human 

*  Lectures  on  Spiritual  Christianity. 


LECTURE    VI.  177 

misciy,"  with  his  heart  too  much  interested  in  tliis 
service  to  spend  much  time  even  to  look  at  the  mas- 
terpieces of  art.  And  who  will  say  that  he  did  not 
iind  a  satisfaction  higher,  and  more  consonant  to  his 
nature,  than  any  work  of  art  could  have  given  ?  Chris- 
tianity excludes  man  from  no  enjoyment  that  is  com- 
patible with  his  highest  good.  It  cannot,  indeed, 
reconcile  incompatibilities.  It  cannot  make  a  man  a 
soldier  on  duty,  and  let  him  be  at  the  same  time  en- 
joying himself  by  his  fireside  ;  it  cannot  make  him  a 
racer,  and  at  the  same  time  permit  him  to  sit  down 
at  his  ease  by  the  side  of  the  course.  It  does  call 
men  to  be  soldiers,  but  it  is  in  the  army  of  the  Cap- 
tain of  tiieir  salvation  ;  it  does  make  them  racers, 
but  it  sets  before  them  an  immortal  crown.  Utterly 
do  they  misapprehend  the  religion  of  Christ  who  re- 
gard it  as  gloomy  and  austere  —  as  a  system  of  formal 
prohibitions  and  restraints.  No ;  its  self-denial  is 
from  love.  It  is  a  system  of  prohibition  and  restraint 
only  as  it  is  a  system  of  excitement  and  guidance. 
Let  Christians  be  fully  inspired  with  the  great  positive 
ideas  and  motives  of  their  religion,  and  it  is  impossi- 
ble there  should  be  in  their  deportment  any  thing  au- 
stere, or  sanctimonious,  or  gloomy,  more  than  there  was 
in  the  deportment  of  Christ  and  of  his  apostles.  It  is 
only  under  the  influence  of  self-denial  from  love  that 
the  highest  character  can  be  formed. 

Nor,  in  speaking  of  Christianity  as  a  system  of 
excitement  and  restraint,  ought  we  to  omit  its  won- 
derful balance  of  motives,  and  the  manner  in  which 
every  weak  point  is  guarded.  Of  particular  instances 
of  this  I  have  spoken  incidentally ;  but  the  system  is 
full  of  them.     Thus,  in  the  case  recently  mentioned, 

23 


178  LECTURE    VI. 

while  a  selfish  pride  is  guarded  against  and  destroyed, 
the  true  dignity  of  man  is  secured  ;  while  the  ambition 
of  superiority  and  comparison  is  repressed,  the  am- 
bition of  excellence  is  cherished;  while  the  deepest 
reverence  towards  God  is  demanded,  it  is  made  com- 
patible with  an  affectionate  and  filial  confidence ; 
while  humility,  that  virtue  so  peculiarly  Christian,  is 
promoted,  there  is  no  approach  towards  meanness  or 
servility.  It  is  "  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing ;  "  it 
requires  active  beneficence,  yet  represses  all  self- 
gratulation  ;  it  insists  strongly  on  the  duties  of  piety 
and  of  devotedness  to  God,  but  it  excludes  mysticism 
and  monachism,  by  insisting  equally  upon  our  duties 
to  man ;  it  inculcates  universal  benevolence,  but 
weakens  no  tie  of  family  or  of  country. 

If,  then,  there  is  this  adaptation  of  Christianity  to 
man ;  if  it  is  adapted  to  his  conscience,  his  intellect, 
his  affections,  his  imagination,  his  will,  —  exciting  and 
guiding  them  aright ;  if  it  represses  only  evil,  and  that 
at  its  source ;  if  its  motives  are  wonderfully  balanced, 
so  that  the  character  produced  by  them  would  be  one 
of  great  loveliness  and  symmetry,  —  then  it  will  follow 
that  it  must  carry  the  individual  to  the  highest  state  of 
perfection,  not  simply  as  a  Christian,  but  as  a  man. 
There  are,  indeed,  manly  traits  which  are  not  distinc- 
tively Christian  ;  but  no  man  can  become  a  Christian 
without  becoming  a  better  man,  or  can  improve  as  a 
Christian  without  improving  in  manhood  ;  and  the 
ideal  of  true  manhood  will  find  its  completion  only  in 
the  perfection  of  the  Christian  character.  And  what 
is  thus  true  of  the  individual  must,  for  that  very 
reason,  be  true  of  the  community.  If  we  may  suppose 
Christianity  to  have  done  its  work  upon  all  the  indi- 


LECTURE    VI.  179 

viduals  of  a  community,  they  would  be  like  the  stones 
and  the  beams  prepared  by  the  workmen  of  Solomon 
in  the  mountains,  and  would  be  ready  to  go  up  into 
the  magnificent  temple  of  a  perfect  society,  without 
the  sound  of  the  axe  or  the  hammer.  And,  moreover, 
the  same  process  which  would  perfect  individuals  as 
such,  and  at  the  same  time  fit  them  to  coalesce  in  an 
harmonious  society  here,  would,  of  course,  fit  them  for 
that  perfect  state  of  society  which  is  represented  as 
existing  in  heaven.  In  this  respect,  Christianity  com- 
mends itself  to  our  reason.  It  does  not,  like  other 
religions,  care  for  rites,  and  forms,  and  ceremonies, 
except  as  they  bear  upon  character.  It  lays  down  no 
arbitrary  rules,  to  the  observance  of  which  it  offers  a 
reward  in  the  form  or  on  the  principle  of  wages,  but 
it  goes  to  form  a  definite  character ;  and  we  can  see 
that  the  character  it  forms  is  precisely  such  as  must 
be  a  preparation  for  the  Iieaveti  which  it  promises.  It 
speaks  of  a  holy  heaven,  and  its  great  object  is  to 
make  men  holy  here  that  they  may  be  fit  to  enter 
there.  This  is  its  great  object;  but,  in  doing  this,  it 
would  bring  the  individual  man,  considered  as  an  in- 
habitant of  the  earth,  to  the  highest  perfection,  and 
would  adjust,  in  the  best  possible  manner,  the  relations 
of  society. 

This  is  a  point  upon  which  I  insist  that  we  are 
competent  to  judge.  It  is  a  vital  point  to  all  who 
would  do  any  thing  to  advance  society  beyond  its 
present  state.  We  know  something  of  man ;  and  we 
certainly  can  tell  what  would  be  the  effects  upon  the 
individual,  and  upon  society,  if  the  law  laid  down  in 
the  Bible  —  the  great  law  of  love  —  were  universally 
obeyed,  and  if  the  principles  there  insisted  on  were 


180  LECTURE    VI. 

universally  regarded.  We  know  what  the  representa- 
tion of  heaven  is,  as  made  in  the  Bible,  and  we  cer- 
tainly can  tell  whether  the  following  of  Christ  would 
be  a  natural  and  necessary  preparation  for  such  a 
state.  My  object  has  been  to  compare  Christianity 
with  the  nature  of  man ;  to  observe  their  adjustments 
to  each  other,  and  to  see  what  that  nature  would  be- 
come, if  yielded  wholly  to  its  influence.  And  if,  im- 
perfectly as  this  has  been  done,  I  yet  find  that  the 
powers  of  the  individual  man  come  forth,  in  their  true 
strength  and  proportion,  only  under  its  influence ;  if  I 
find  that  there  can  be  no  perfect  state  of  society 
except  in  accordance  with  its  laws ;  if  I  see  that  it 
would  fit  man  for  a  heaven  of  purity  and  love,  in- 
volving the  highest  activity  and  fullest  expansion  of 
every  power,  —  then  I  am  prepared  to  say  that,  if  this 
religion  be  not  from  God,  it  must  yet  be  true ;  and 
that,  if  God  should  reveal  a  religion,  it  could  neither 
propose  nor  accomplish  any  thing  higher  or  better. 

I  have  now  brought  to  a  conclusion  the  argument 
from  a  comparison  of  Christianity  with  the  constitution 
of  man.  There  is  another,  usually  termed  the  experi- 
mental evidence  of  Christianity,  which  is  intimately 
connected  with  this  ;  for,  if  this  religion  is  indeed 
adapted  to  act  thus  fully  and  powerfully  upon  the 
mind,  it  cannot  but  be  that  he  who  yields  himself  to 
its  influence  will  find,  growing  out  of  that  very  influ- 
ence, a  deeply-wrought  conviction  of  its  wisdom,  and 
of  its  adaptation  to  his  nature  and  wants.  Of  the 
validity  of  this  argument  there  have  been  various 
opinions.  Some  have  objected  to  it  altogether,  as 
fanatical ;   while  others   have  supposed  that  it  might 


LECTURE    VI.  181 

be  valid  for  the  Chiistian  himself,  but  neither  ou"ht 
to  be,  nor  could  be,  any  ground  of  conviction  for 
another.  What,  then,  is  the  nature  of  this  argument? 
What  ought  to  be  its  force,  first,  upon  the  minds  of 
Christians,  and,  secondly,  upon  the  minds  of  others? 
An  answer  to  these  inquiries  would  exhaust  the  subject. 
What,  then,  is  the  nature  of  this  argument,  and  the 
consequent  force  which  it  ought  to  have  upon  the 
mind  of  the  Christian  himself?  The  Christian  con- 
tends that  he  has  a  knowledge  of  Christianity,  and  a 
conviction  of  its  truth,  which  he  did  not  acquire  bv 
reasoning,  and  which,  therefore,  reasoning  cannot,  and 
ought  not,  to  shake.  Can  he  have  such  a  knowledge 
and  conviction  in  a  rational  way  ?  By  confounding 
reasoning  with  reason,  many  have  been  led  to  suppose 
that  we  could  have  no  rational  conviction  of  any  thing 
which  we  could  not  prove  by  reasoning.  Than  this  no 
mistake  could  be  greater ;  for  a  very  large  part  of  our 
knowledge  is  neither  acquired  by  reasoning  nor  de- 
pendent on  it.  This  is  so  with  all  the  intuitions 
of  reason,  and  with  all  the  knowledge  acquired  by 
sensation  and  by  experience.  The  very  condition  of 
knowledge  at  all  is  a  direct  power  of  perception,  and 
where  this  does  not  exist,  there  can  be  no  reason- 
ing. Thus,  no  one  can  know  what  it  is  to  live,  but 
by  living  ;  what  it  is  to  see,  but  by  seeing  ;  what  it 
is  to  feel,  but  by  feeling;  nor,  in  general,  can  any' one 
know  what  it  is  to  be  any  thing,  but  by  becoming  that 
thing.  Direct  knowledge,  thus  gained,  is  the  con- 
dition of  all  reasoning,  and  it  is  not  within  the  proper 
province  of  reasoning  to  call  it  in  question.  The 
knowledge  is  not  gained  by  reasoning,  but  it  is  in  the 
highest  degree   rational  to  admit  it  and  act  uj)on  it. 


182  LECTURE    VI. 

The  question  is,  whether  there  is  a  knowledge  of 
Christianity  which  is  obtained  in  this  way  ;  whether, 
in  order  to  be  a  Christian,  a  man  is  simply  to  believe 
something,  or  whether  he  is  to  become  something. 

And  here  I  observe  that,  if  Christianity  be  true, 
there  must  be  such  a  knowledge.  It  claims  to  be,  not 
a  mere  system  of  rites  and  forms,  nor  a  system  of  phil- 
osophical belief,  but  a  life ;  and,  if  so,  that  life  can  be 
known  only  by  living  it ;  if  so,  there  must  be  gained, 
by  living  it,  immediate  perceptions  and  experimental 
knowledge,  such  as  we  gain  by  living  our  natural  life. 
Without  these  it  would  be  merely  a  form,  or  a  creed 
in  the  understanding,  or  an  external  rule  —  something 
dead  and  formal ;  and  not  as  "  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  into  everlasting  life."  Without  these,  it 
is  impossible  that  the  words  of  Christ  should  be  "  spirit 
and  life." 

The  analogy  is  often  drawn  in  this  respect,  and,  so 
far  as  I  can  see,  properly,  between  Christianity,  as  a 
remedy  for  the  moral  maladies  of  man,  and  remedies 
for  bodily  disease.  It  is  plain  that  he  who  takes  a 
remedy  for  bodily  disease,  may  have  an  evidence  and 
conviction  of  its  efficacy  entirely  independent  of  any 
testimony  or  reasoning,  and  more  convincing  than 
either  or  both  of  these  could  give.  He  may  try  the 
remedy  in  such  a  variety  of  forms,  may  so  watch  the 
symptoms  as  he  takes  or  omits  it,  that  he  can  have  no 
more  doubt  of  its  effect  than  he  has  of  the  rising  and 
settino;  of  the  sun.  Here  is  somethins;  which  comes 
within  the  province  of  consciousness  and  of  direct 
knowledge,  and  it  is  in  vain  that  you  attempt  to  de- 
stroy a  conviction  thus  produced.  You  may  tell  him 
that  he  is  not  sick,  and  never  was ;  that  the  dose  was 


LECTURE    VI.  183 

the  liiindrcd-thousandth  part  of  a  drop,  and  tluMcfore 
could  not  have  done  him  any  good  ;  but  he  may  have 
had  experience  of  such  a  kind  that  it  would  be  prac- 
tically irrational,  and  the  height  of  folly,  for  him  to  lay 
aside  his  medicine  on  the  ground  of  any  reasoning,  or 
previous  estimate  of  probabilities.  And  so,  when  the 
mind  is  awakened  to  the  realities  of  its  spiritual  con- 
dition, if,  as  the  conscience  is  quickened  and  the  moral 
eye  is  purged,  it  is  perceived  that  there  is  a  wonderful 
correspondence  between  the  discoveries  which  a  man 
makes  concerning  himself  and  the  delineations  of  the 
heart  which  he  finds  in  the  Bible  ;  if  this  correspond- 
ence is  the  same  in  kind  with  that  which  he  finds  in 
the  writinjis  of  those  who  have  best  described  human 
character,  but  is  more  perfect ;  if  it  is  such  that  an 
uncultivated  man,  to  whom  the  Bible  becomes  a  new 
book,  may  well  say,  as  one  recently  did  say,  "  I  see 
now  that  a  man's  history  may  be  written  before  he  was 
born  ;  "  if  he  finds  in  himself  wants,  hungerings  and 
thirstings  of  spirit,  for  which  Christianity,  and  nothing 
else,  makes  provision,  and  feels  that  that  provision  is 
precisely  adapted  to  his  wants;  if  he  finds  himself 
engaged  in  a  conflict  for  which  Christianity  furnishes 
the  only  appro])riate  armor;  if  he  obtains  answers  to 
prayer,  and  finds  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need,  so  that 
his  evil  tendencies  are  overcome  and  his  virtues  are 
strengthened,  —  then  it  would  be  no  more  rational  for 
him  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  than 
to  doubt  the  testimony  of  his  senses.  Of  such  corres- 
pondences between  his  heart  and  the  Bible,  of  such 
wants  and  their  supplies,  of  such  helps  and  of  such 
conquests,  we  might  naturally  suppose  the  Christian 
would  have  an  experimental  knowledge,  if  Christianity 


184  LECTURE   VI. 

be  true;  and  1  venture  to  say  that^no  religion  could 
do  for  man  what  Christianity  proposes  to  do  without 
furnishino;  to  those  under  its  influence  this  kind  of 
evidence. 

And  not  only  might  we  rationally  expect  such  a 
ground  of  conviction,  but  Christianity  itself,  under- 
standing its  own  nature  and  the  grounds  on  which 
it  would  be  believed  in,  promises  to  give  it  to  all  who 
will  put  themselves  in  a  position  to  avail  themselves 
of  it.  "  If  any  man,"  says  Christ,  "  will  do  his  will, 
he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  "  He,"  says  John, 
"  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God,  hath  the  witness 
in  himself."  "  The  Spirit  itself,"  says  Paul,  "  beareth 
w^itness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of 
God."  This  evidence  Christianity  regards  as  indis- 
pensable. It  counts  itself  to  have  done  nothing  till 
this  is  given.  Till  then,  it  is  like  the  physician  who 
stands  by  the  bedside  and  exhibits  the  evidences  of  his 
skill,  but  accomplishes  nothing,  if  the  patient  so  dis- 
likes the  remedy  that  he  prefers  to  suffer  the  pain, 
and  risk  the  consequences  of  the  disease,  rather  than 
to  take  that  remedy.  Here,  indeed,  is  the  great  point 
of  difficulty.  It  is  not  so  much  that  men  are  not 
speculatively  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
as  that  they  defer  applying  it  to  themselves,  and  thus 
fail  of  the  highest  of  all  possible  grounds  of  convic- 
tion —  that  of  experience. 

And  as  this  evidence  might  be  anticipated  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  and  is  promised  in  the  Scriptures, 
so  we  find  it  possessed  by  all  true  Christians,  though 
in  a  degree  by  no  means  proportioned  to  their  learning 
or  talents,  but  to  the  sincerity  of  their  faith  and  the 
fulness  of  their  obedience.     Hence,  unlike  those  spe- 


LECTURE   VI.  185 

cies  of  evidence  vvliicli  require  learning,  it  is  open  to 
all,  and  forms,  for  Christians  of  every  age  and  of  every 
variety  of  attainment,  a  ground  of  conviction,  which 
they  do  not  perhaps  state  as  an  argument,  but  vvliich 
is  rational,  and  satisfactory  to  all.  To  the  philosopher 
it  is  satisfactory,  because  he  can  trace  it  up  to  its  prin- 
ciples, and  can  feel  that,  in  resting  on  it,  he  is  resting 
on  precisely  the  same  kind  of  evidence  which  com- 
mands assent  in  all  other  cases  of  consciousness  ;  and 
it  is  not  less  satisfactory  to  the  unlettered  man  through 
that  healthy  assent,  unaccompanied  by  any  reflex  act 
of  the  mind,  by  which  we  gain  all  our  primary  knowl- 
edge. "  Merely  literary  men,"  says  Wilson,  taking 
the  thought  from  Verplanck,  "  are  slow  to  admit  that 
vulgar  minds  can  have  any  rational  perception  of 
truths  involving  great  and  high  contemplation.  They 
overlook  the  distinction  between  the  nice  analysis  of 
principles,  the  accurate  statement  of  definitions,  logi- 
cal inferences,  and  the  solution  of  difficulties,  and  the 
structure  of  our  own  thoughts  and  the  play  of  the  affec- 
tions. They  discern  not  between  the  theory  of  met- 
aphysical science  and  the  first  truths  and  rational 
instincts  which  are  implanted  in  the  breasts  of  all, 
and  which  prepare  them  to  see  the  glory  of  the  gos- 
pel, to  feel  its  influence,  and  to  argue  from  both  for  the 
divinity  of  Christianity.  The  one  is  an  elevating  em- 
ployment of  the  intellect ;  the  other,  the  germs  and 
seeds  of  all  intellectual  and  moral  knowledge,  which 
lie  dormant  till  they  are  called  forth  by  occasions,  and 
then  burst  forth  into  life  and  power.  "  * 

And  this  evidence,  being  thus  universal,  shows  us  the 


*  Wilson's  Evidences. 
24. 


186  LECTURE   VI. 

true  reason  of  that  hold  which  Christianity  lias  upon 
the  minds  of  men,  and  of  the  place  which  it  holds  in 
the  earth  as  a  leavening  and  extending  power.  It  is 
through  this  that  the  weak  are  made  strong  and  the 
timid  brave  ;  that  persons  of  every  description  have  be- 
come martyrs,  equally  in  the  first  freshness  and  power 
of  the  religion,  and  near  the  seat  of  its  origin,  and,  in 
these  last  days,  in  the  remote  island,  and  among  the 
semi-barbarous  people,  of  Madagascar.  I  know  it  is 
said  that  all  religions  can  claim  their  martyrs,  and  that 
for  a  man  to  die  for  his  religion  only  shows  that  he  is 
sincere,  and  not  at  all  the  truth  of  the  religion.  But 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  Christian  religion  is  peculiar  in 
this  respect,  on  the  ground  we  are  now  considering, 
and  that  its  martyrdoms  do  show  something  more. 
As  between  Christian  sects,  martyrdom  can,  indeed, 
show  nothing  concerning  the  truth  of  particular  tenets; 
and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  other  religions  have 
had  their  martvrs,  in  the  strict  sense  of  that  word.  In 
confirmation  of  what  other  religion  can  it  be  shown 
that  any  considerable  number  of  persons  have  laid 
down  their  lives  solely  from  their  belief  in  the  religion, 
unconnected  with  ambition,  or  the  revolution  of  par- 
ties ?  I  know  of  none.  What  other  religion  could 
go  to  the  Island  of  Madagascar,  and,  not  only  without 
any  temptation  of  honor  or  gain,  but  in  opjiosition  to 
every  motive  of  this  kind,  and  to  the  entreaties  of 
friends,  could  induce  persons  to  change  their  religion, 
and  then  lead  them,  solely  for  the  sake  of  the  new  re- 
ligion, to  wander  about  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented, 
and  finally  to  lay  down  their  lives  ?  And  here  we  see 
only  the  operation  of  the  same  principle  that  led 
persons  of  all  descriptions,  under  the  Roman  emperors, 


LECTURE    VI.  187 

to  submit  to  the  loss  of  all,  and  to  martyrdom.  Such 
martyrs,  —  the  most  enlightened  philosophers  and  schol- 
ars, multitudes  of  the  common  people,  women,  and 
even  children,  evidently  upheld  by  the  same  convic- 
tions, —  I  contend,  are  peculiar  to  the  Christian  religion. 
The  history  of  the  world  can  show  nothing  like  them; 
and  whoever  will  consider  them  candidly,  must  confess 
that  they  show,  not  merely  the  sincerity  of  those  who 
suffered,  but  the  adaptation  of  the  religion  to  take  a 
deep  hold  of  the  human  mind,  and  its  power  to  produce 
conviction,  in  the  manner  of  which  I  am  now  speaking. 
In  this  power  we  rejoice.  We  point  it  out  to  the 
infidel.  We  say  to  him  that,  as  long  as  this  power 
remains,  his  warfare  against  Christianity  must  be  in 
vain.  We  tell  him  that  he  may  argue,  may  ridicule, 
may  scoff;  may  think,  with  the  mild  Pliny,  that  "  such 
inveterate  obstinacy  ought  to  be  punished ;  "  and  he 
may  persecute  and  kill ;  —  but  that  he  can  never  cause 
the  true  Christian  to  yield  his  faith,  or  prevent  the 
working  of  those  secret  but  mighty  aflfiinities  by  which 
he  becomes  more  attached  to  it  than  to  kindred,  or 
wealth,  or  life. 

If,  then,  this  evidence  is  of  a  nature  so  unexception- 
able; if  it  is  promised  in  the  Scriptures;  if  we  find  such 
evidence  of  it  in  the  lives  of  Christians,  —  we  may  well 
conclude  that  it  must  be,  to  tliem,  a  rational  and  satis- 
factory ground  of  conviction  that  the  religion  is  true. 

But  the  unbeliever  may  say,  this  may  be  all  very 
well  for  the  Christian  himself,  but  it  can  be  no  evi- 
dence to  me.  Let  us  see,  then,  whether  it  w^ould  be 
no  evidence  to  a  candid  man  ;  whether  an  attempt  is 
not  made  in  this,  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  to  judge 
of  religion  in  a  way  and  by  a  standard  different  from 


188  LECTURE   VI. 

those  adopted  in  other  things.     To  me  it  seems  that 
the  simple  question  is,  whether  this  kind  of  evidence 
is  good  for  tlie  Christian  himself;  for  if  it  is,  then  the 
candid  inquirer  is  as  much  bound  to  take  his  testimony 
as  he  is  to  take  that  of  a  man  who  has  been  sick, 
respecting  a  remedy  that  has  cured  him.     If  a  large 
number  of  persons,  whose  testimony  would  be  received 
on  any  other  subject,  should  say  that  they  had  been 
cured  of  a   fever  by  a  particular  remedy,  there  is  no 
man  who  would  say  that  their  testimony  was  of  no 
account  in  making  up  his  mind  respecting  that  remedy, 
though  he  had  not  himself  had  the  experience  upon 
which  the  testimony  was  founded.     If  it  is  said  that 
the    evidence    to    the   Christian    himself  is    not    well 
founded,  and  is  fanatical,  very  well.     Let  that  point 
be  fairly  settled.     But  if  it  be  a  good  argument  for 
him,  then  we  ask  that  his  testimony  should  be  received 
on  this   subject  as   it  would  be   on  any  other.     The 
testimony  is  that  of  many  witnesses ;  and  I  am  per- 
suaded that  a  fair  examination  of  facts,  and  a  careful 
induction,  after  the  manner  of  Bacon,  would  settle  for- 
ever the  validity  of  this  argument,  and  the  proper  force 
of  this  testimony.     Every  circumstance    conspires   to 
give  it  force.     It  is  only  from  its  truth  that  we  can 
account  for  its  surprising  uniformity,  I  may  say  identity, 
in   every  age,  in   every  country,  and  when   given  by 
persons  of  every  variety  of  talent  and  of  mental  culture. 
Compare  the  statements  given,  respecting  the  power 
of  the  gospel,  by  Jonathan  Edwards,  by  a  converted 
Greenlander,  a  Sandwich  Islander,  and  a  Hottentot, 
and  you  will  find  in  them  all  a  substantial  identity. 
They  have  all  repented,  and  believed,  and  loved,  and 
obeyed,  and  rejoiced;  they  all  speak  of  similar  con- 


LECTURE    VI.  189 

flicts,  and  of  similar  snpj)orts.  And  their  statements 
respecting  these  things  have  the  more  force,  because 
they  are  not  given  as  testimony,  but  seem  rather  Hkc 
notes,  varying,  indeed,  in  fuhiess  and  power,  which 
may  yet  be  recognized  as  coming  from  a  simiUu"  instru- 
ment touched  by  a  single  hand.  If  I  might  allude 
here  to  the  comparison,  by  Christ,  of  the  Spirit  to  the 
wind,  I  should  say  that  in  every  climate,  and  under  all 
circumstances,  that  divine  Agent  calls  forth  the  same 
sweet  notes  whenever  he  touches  the  ^olian  harp  of  a 
soul  renewed.  And  this  uniform  testimony  does  not 
come  as  a  naked  expression  of  mere  feeling ;  it  is  ac- 
companied with  a  change  of  life,  and  with  fruits  meet 
for  repentance,  showing  a  permanent  change  of  prin- 
ciple. This  testimony,  too,  is  given  under  circum- 
stances best  fitted  to  secure  truth  —  given  in  affliction, 
in  poverty,  on  the  bed  of  death.  How  many,  how 
very  many,  have  testified  in  their  final  hour  to  the  sus- 
taining power  of  the  gospel !  And  was  there  ever  one, 
did  any  body  ever  hear  of  one,  who  repented,  at  that 
hour,  of  having  been  a  Christian  ?  Why  not,  then, 
receive  this  testimony  ?  Will  you  make  your  own 
experience  the  standard  of  what  you  will  believe  ? 
Then  we  invite  you  to  become  a  Christian,  and  gain 
this  experience.  Will  you  be  like  the  man  who  did  not 
believe  in  the  existence  of  Jupiter's  moons,  and  yet 
refused  to  look  through  the  telescope  of  Galileo  for  fear 
he  should  see  them  ?  Put  the  eye  of  faith  to  the  gos- 
pel, and  if  you  do  not  see  new  moral  heavens,  I  have 
nothing  more  to  say.  Will  you  refuse  to  believe  that 
there  is  an  echo  at  a  particular  spot,  to  believe  that  the 
lowest  sound  can  be  conveyed  around  the  circuit  of  a 
whispering  gallery,  and  yet  refuse  to  put  your  ear  at 


190  LECTURE    VI. 

the  proper  point  to  test  these  facts  ?  Put  jour  ear  to 
the  gospel,  and  if  you  do  not  hear  voices  gathered  from 
three  worlds,  I  have  nothing  more  to  say.  Will  you 
refuse  to  believe  that  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  are  to  be 
seen  in  a  drop  of  water,  and  yet  not  put  your  eye  at 
the  angle  at  which  alone  they  can  be  seen  ?  Or,  il 
you  think  there  is  nothing  analogous  to  this  in  moral 
matters,  as  there  undoubtedly  is,  will  you  hear  men 
speaking  of  the  high  enjoyment  they  derive  from  view- 
ing works  of  art,  and  think  them  deluded  and  fanatical 
till  your  taste  is  so  cultivated  that  you  may  have  the 
same  enjoyment  ?  Surely,  nothing  can  be  more  unrea- 
sonable than  for  men  to  make  their  own  experience,  in 
such  cases,  a  standard  of  belief,  and  yet  refuse  the 
only  conditions  on  which  experience  can  be  had. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  show,  first,  that  there  is 
in  Christianity  a  self-evidencing  power,  and  that  the 
experimental  knowledge  of  a  Christian  is  to  him  a 
valid  ground  of  belief;  and,  secondly,  that  a  fair- 
minded  man  will  receive  his  testimony  respecting 
that  knowledge  as  he  would  respecting  the  colors 
in  a  drop,  or  the  echo  at  a  particular  point,  or  the 
pleasures  of  taste,  or  any  other  experience  which  he 
had  not  himself  been  in  a  position  to  gain. 

There  is  one  argument  more,  intimately  connected 
with  the  adaptation  of  Christianity  to  the  constitution 
of  man,  to  which  I  now  proceed.  A  fitness  and  tend- 
ency to  become  universal  must  be  discernible  in  a 
religion  coming  from  God,  and  claiming  to  be  given 
for  the  race ;  and  if  there  is  the  adaptation  for  which 
I  have  contended,  then  Christianity  must  have  this 
fitness  and  tendency. 


LECTURE    VI.  191 

The  fitness,  however,  of  Christianity  to  become  uni- 
versal, arises  as  much  from  what  it  is  not  as  from 
what  it  is,  and  can  be  fully  appreciated  only  by  look- 
ing at  the  relation  of  its  object  to  all  human  institu- 
tions. That  object  is  a  moral  object,  with  no  taint 
of  any  thing  earthly  about  it  ;  and,  in  pursuing  it, 
Christianity  keeps  itself  enth'ely  aloof  from  all  polit- 
ical and  local  questions.  It  regards  man  solely  as  a 
moral  and  spiritual  being,  under  the  government  of 
God ;  and  its  object,  distinctly  announced  from  the 
first,  is  to  save  men  from  the  consequences  of  trans- 
gression under  that  government.  "  His  name  shall 
be  called  Jesus,"  said  the  angel,  "  for  he  shall  save 
his  people  from  iheii'  sm5."  Not  from  the  Roman 
yoke  —  not  primarily  from  any  earthly  evil  —  but  from 
their  sins.  Upon  this  one  object  Christianity  steadily 
keeps  its  eye.  The  Son  of  man  came  "  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost."  It  is  simply  a  system 
of  salvation  from  sin,  and  its  consequences  under  the 
government  of  God ;  and  whatever  may  be  his  age, 
or  language,  or  country,  or  the  form  of  government 
under  which  he  lives,  it  is  equally  adapted  to  every 
child  of  Adam  who  is  led  to  ask  the  question,  "  What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  It  comes  with  pardon  and 
hope  to  every  one  who  feels  the  guilt  of  sin,  or  who 
is  subject  to  bondage  through  fear  of  death.  There 
are  certain  great  moral  interests  which  are  common 
to  the  race,  —  certain  chords  in  the  human  heart 
which  vibrate  whenever  they  are  struck ;  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  Christianity  concerns  itself  oidy  with 
those  interests,  and  strikes  only  those  chords.  It  has 
to  do  with  individuals  as  guilty  under  the  government 
of  God,  without  respect  to  their  earthly  relations ;  and 


192  LECTURE   VI. 

hence  it  has  the  power  to  enter  in  as  a  new  element, 
and  to  pervade  and  enhghten  every  form  of  society, 
as  the  sunlight  enters  into  and  pervades  the  body  of 
the  atmosphere.  Hence,  in  its  original  diffusion,  re- 
garding man  simply  as  man,  it  swept  as  freely  as  the 
breeze  of  heaven  past  all  territorial  and  national  limits. 
All  other  religions  are  adapted  to  particular  climates  ; 
are  upheld,  like  that  of  the  Jews,  by  association  with 
particular  places  ;  but,  since  Christ  has  entered  into 
the  true  tabernacle  above,  incense  and  a  pure  offering 
may  go  up  from  every  place.  All  other  religions  are 
connected  with  the  government,  and  we  have  no 
evidence  that,  without  such  connection,  they  could  be 
sustained.  But  "  Christianity,  as  a  spiritual  system, 
is  always  superior  to  every  visible  institution."  Some 
systems  and  institutions  may  oppose  greater  obstacles 
to  its  progress  than  others ;  but  none  can  become 
Christianity,  nor  can  they  do  any  thing  for  it  except 
to  give  it  free  scope  to  do  its  own  work  upon  individ- 
ual character.  It  is  not  monarchy,  it  is  not  democ- 
racy, it  is  not  Episcopacy,  it  is  not  Congregationalism  ; 
it  is  something  which  may  pervade  and  bless  society 
where  any  of  these  exist,  and  which  may  be  with- 
drawn and  leave  either  of  these  standing  as  an  orjjan- 
ization  through  which  human  passion  and  corruption 
shall  work  out  their  own  unmixed  and  unmitigated 
effects.  Hence,  too,  Christianity  attacks  no  visible 
institutions  as  such.  It  goes  to  the  slave,  and  tells 
him  he  is  the  Lord's  freed  man  ;  it  goes  to  the  mas- 
ter, and  tells  him  he  is  Christ's  servant.  It  tells  both 
master  and  slave  that  they  are  brethren.  It  goes  to 
the  king,  and  tells  him  he  is  the  subject  of  a  higher 
power ;  it  goes  to  the  subject,  and  tells  him  he  may 


LECTURE    VI.  193 

become  a  king  and  priest  to  God.  It  raises  all  men 
to  the  level  of  a  common  immortality  ;  it  depresses 
them  all  to  tiie  level  of  a  common  sinfulness  and  ex- 
posure ;  it  subjects  all  to  a  common  accountability  ; 
it  offers  to  all  a  common  salvation  ;  it  proposes  to  all 
a  law  of  perfect  equity  and  a  principle  of  universal 
love ;  and  then  it  leaves  these  principles  and  motives 
to  work  their  own  effect  —  assured  that,  in  proportion 
as  they  act,  they  must  change  the  nature,  if  not  the 
name,  of  all  visible  institutions  opposed  to  its  sj)irit. 
It  is  capable  of  taking  human  organizations,  as  culture 
took  the  peach  when  it  was  dwarfed  and  its  fruit  was 
poisonous,  and  of  causing  other  juices  and  vital  fluids 
to  circulate  through  the  pores  of  those  same  organiza- 
tions, and  far  other  fruit  to  hang  upon  their  branches. 
It  understands  perfectly  that  no  change  of  form  is  of 
any  permanent  value  without  a  change  of  spirit ;  and 
seeks  (and  oh  that  men  would  learn  this  lesson !)  a 
change  of  form  only  through  a  change  of  spirit.  Hence 
it  works  like  leaven,  that  passes  on  from  particle  to 
particle,  and  finds  no  limit  till  the  whole  lump  is 
leavened.  Hence,  too,  I  may  remark  here,  Chris- 
tianity is  the  most  formidable  of  all  foes  to  tyrants  and 
to  every  form  of  oppression.  No  walls,  or  fortifica- 
tions, or  armed  legions,  can  keep  it  out,  and  no  weapon 
can  smite  it.  Working  silently  upon  the  consciences 
of  men,  it  is  impossible  to  say  where  it  is,  or  to  what 
extent,  and  the  opposer  knows  not  where  to  strike. 
The  very  executioner  chosen  by  persecution  offers 
himself  to  die  with  the  martyr;  and  when  it  is  sup- 
posed that  the  two  witnesses  are  dead,  and  there  is 
reat  rejoicing,  they  suddenly  rise  and  stand  upon 
their  feet. 

25 


g 


194  LECTURE    VI. 

But  the  fitness  of  Christianity  to  become  universal 
does  not  result  from  any  properties  merely  negative, 
nor  from  the  possibility  of  its  becoming  so ;  but  from 
all  those  adaptations  by  which  it  appears  that  it  con- 
tains the  moral  laws  of  God,  and  lays  down  the  only 
conditions  of  individual  and  social  well-being.  Of 
some  of  these  adaptations  I  have  spoken ;  and,  for  my 
present  purpose,  it  cannot  be  necessary  that  I  should* 
speak  further,  because,  whatever  men  may  think  of  the 
divine  origin  of  Christianity  —  however  far  they  may 
be  from  yielding  practically  to  its  claims —  they  almost 
universally  concede  that  its  tendency  is  good,  and  that 
society  is  improved  just  so  far  as  it  prevails.  This  is 
conceded  by  philosophers,  and  politicians,  and  men  of 
the  world ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the 
lowest  and  most  bigoted  of  them,  by  infidels  them- 
selves. They  cannot  deny  its  tendency  to  promote 
industry,  and  honesty,  and  temperance,  and  peace,  and 
good  order.  And,  if  this  is  so,  then  Christianity  has  a 
positive  fitness  to  become  universal  in  the  same  way 
that  any  truth  or  practical  knowledge  has  ;  and,  if  there 
is  ever  to  be  any  thing  like  universal  order,  it  must 
take  its  place  as  a  part  of  it. 

But,  if  there  is  this  Jitiiess  in  Christianity  to  become 
universal,  then  it  must  have  a  tendency  to  become  so, 
or  else  there  is  neither  a  tendency  to  progress,  nor  a 
law  of  progress,  for  man.  The  whole  of  our  hope  here 
rests  on  the  belief  that  there  is  inwrought  into  the 
constitution  of  things  a  tendency  by  which  those  things 
that  have  a  fitness  to  promote  happiness  shall  gradu- 
ally remove  obstacles,  and  become  universal.  That 
the  Saviour  intended  his  religion  should  become  uni- 
versal is  plain,  because  he  left  it  in  charge  to  his  disci- 


LECTURE    VI.  195 

pies  to  preach  it  to  every  creature.  That  a  real 
apprehension  of  its  truths,  and  of  their  value  to  the 
race,  would  lead  a  benevolent  mind  to  >vish  to  com- 
municate them,  is  equally  plain  ;  and  hence  we  say 
that,  from  the  command  of  Christ,  and  from  the  very 
nature  of  Christian  truth  and  of  Christian  motives. 
Christians  themselves  can  never  rest  till  they  have 
carried  this  gospel  over  the  earth.  But  we  say,  fur- 
ther than  this,  that  Christianity  has  the  same  tendency 
to  prevail  that  reason  has  to  prevail  over  brute  force,  or 
that  virtue  has  to  prevail  over  vice,  or  truth  over  error, 
—  the  same  tendency  that  correct  doctrines  respecting 
peace,  or  justice,  or  political  economy,  have  to  prevail 
over  those  that  are  false.  Man  is  capable  of  scientific 
insight,  and  he  seeks  to  be  happy.  There  are  certain 
moral  laws  of  God,  as  fixed  and  unchangeable  as  any 
physical  laws,  in  accordance  with  which  alone  he  can 
be  so.  Those  laws,  we  say,  are  a  part  of  Christianity, 
and  that  all  true  progress  in  society  must  be  a  progress 
towards  the  realization  and  establishment  of  those  laws. 
We  say  that  every  step  in  the  progress  of  moral  and 
political  science  shows  that,  when  these  shall  be  com- 
plete, they  will  be  seen  to  be  only  the  scientific  ex- 
pression of  the  precepts  and  laws  of  Christianity. 
Hence  there  is  the  same  tendency  to  universality  in 
Christianity,  not  as  a  mode  of  salvation,  but  in  its 
earthly  aspects,  that  there  is  to  any  advancement  and 
progress  in  morals,  or  in  politics,  or  in  political  econ- 
omy. The  true  laws  of  these,  and  of  human  happi- 
ness as  depending  on  them,  will  be  found  to  be  iden- 
tical with  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  they  can  never 
be  practically  applied  except  as  that  spirit  prevails. 

Thus  we  see  a  preparation  made,  in  the  adaptation 
of  Christianity  to   the   nature   and  wants   of  man  as 


196  LECTURE    VI. 

man ;  in  the  command  of  Christ ;  in  the  nature  of 
Christian  love  and  of  Christian  motives;  and  in  the 
identity  of  Christianity,  in  some  of  its  aspects,  with 
moral  and  political  science,  for  that  final  and  universal 
triumph  predicted  by  the  prophets  and  waited  for  by 
the  church ;  and  through  these,  in  connection  with 
that  divine  aid  which  is  promised  and  has  never  been 
withheld,  we  think  it  rational  to  expect,  not  only  that 
it  will  be  perpetuated  till  the  end  of  time,  but  that 
"  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  will  be  established 
in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  that  all  nations  will 
flow  unto  it." 

Having  thus  spoken  of  the  continuance  of  Chris- 
tianity till  the  end  of  time,  I  will  close  this  lecture  by 
observing  that,  in  substance,  if  not  in  form,  it  has  con- 
tinued from  its  beginning.  That  it  should  have  been 
always  in  the  world,  is  mentioned  by  Pascal  as  the 
mark  of  a  religion  from  God.  It  is  a  mark  which  we 
might  expect  would  belong  to  the  true  religion,  and 
this  mark  Christianity,  and  that  alone,  has.  The 
patriarchal,  the  Jewish,  and  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tions, are  evidently  but  the  unfolding  of  one  general 
plan.  In  the  first  we  see  the  folded  bud ;  in  the  sec- 
ond, the  expanded  leaf;  in  the  third,  the  blossom  and 
the  fruit.  And  now,  how  sublime  the  idea  of  a  re- 
ligion thus  commencing  in  the  earliest  dawn  of  time ; 
holding  on  its  way  through  all  the  revolutions  of  king- 
doms and  the  vicissitudes  of  the  race  ;  receiving  new 
forms,  but  always  identical  in  spirit ;  and,  finally,  ex- 
panding and  embracing  in  one  great  brotherhood  the 
whole  family  of  man  !  Who  can  doubt  that  such  a 
religion  was  from  God  ? 


LECTURE   VII. 


CHRISTIANITY   COULD    NOT    HAVE    BEEN    ORIGINATED   BY 

MAN. 

If  we  could  possibly  be  called  on  to  argue  the 
question  whether  the  ocean  was  made  by  God,  or 
whether  it  was  an  artificial  salt  lake,  made  by  man,  we 
should  show,  on  the  one  hand,  that  it  was  worthy  of 
God,  and  that  it  corresponded  with  his  other  works ; 
and,  on  the  other,  that  it  was  impossible  it  should 
have  been  made  by  man.  Every  fact  respecting  its 
vastness  and  depth  would  show  that  it  was  worthy  of 
God,  and  every  relation  that  could  be  pointed  out  be- 
tween that  and  the  other  works  of  God  would  be  an 
argument  to  show  that  they  were  fashioned  by  the 
same  hand.  Probably  no  one  could  see  the  sun 
evaporating  its  waters,  the  atmosphere  bearing  them 
up  in  clouds,  the  clouds  pouring  them  down  upon  the 
waiting  tribes  of  vegetation,  the  springs  welling  them 
up  for  the  service  of  animals  and  of  man,  without 
being  convinced  that  He  who  made  the  sun,  and  the 
air,  and  the  grass,  and  the  animals,  and  man,  made 
also  the  ocean.  Such  relations  of  mutual  dependence 
could  exist  only  in  the  different  departments  of  the 
works  of  one  Beins. 

Hitherto,  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  Christiani- 


198  LECTURE    VII. 

tj  was  worthy  of  God,  and  that  it  so  corresponds  with 
his  other  works,  that  He  who  made  nature,  and  the 
mind,  must  have  been  the  author  of  Christianity.  I 
now  proceed  to  show  that  it  could  not  have  been  pro- 
duced by  man.  It  may,  perhaps,  amount  to  the  same 
thing,  whether  I  attempt  to  show  that  Christianity 
must  have  come  from  God,  or  could  not  have  come 
from  man  ;  but  as  the  terms  qf  comparison  are  differ- 
ent, it  will  lead  to  a  presentation  of  the  subject  in  an 
entirely  different  point  of  view. 

I  continue  to  pursue  this  method  of  proof,  bringing 
Christianity,  in  different  relations,  alongside  of  the 
human  mind,  because  it  is  perfectly  within  the  reach 
of  every  person  of  good  sense,  whether  learned  or  un- 
learned. We  know  the  capacities  of  the  human  mind, 
and  we  are  capable  of  forming,  within  certain  limits, 
a  judgment,  respecting  what  it  can  or  cannot  do,  upon 
which  we  may  rely.  The  powers  of  the  mind  are  lim- 
ited no  less  than  those  of  the  body ;  and  as  we  can 
judge  what  man  can  do,  in  given  circumstances,  by 
his  physical  strength,  and,  in  some  cases,  be  sure  we 
are  right,  so  we  can  judge  what  he  can  do  intellectu- 
ally and  morally,  in  given  circumstances,  and,  in  some 
cases,  be  sure  we  are  right.  The  question,  then,  is, 
whether  it  is  possible  that  the  human  mind  should 
have  originated  the  Christian  system,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  it  was  placed.  Had  unassisted 
man  the  capacity  to  originate  such  a  system  ?  Was 
there  any  motive  to  lead  him  to  labor  for  its  establish- 
ment ?  Upon  this  point  I  have  already  incidentally 
touched,  but  it  requires  further  attention. 

And  here  I  observe,  that  the  question  concerning 
the  origin  of  Christianity  cannot  be  disposed  of  by  a 


LECTURE    VII.  199 

general  reference  to  the  facility  with  which  mankind 
are  deluded,  and  the  frequency  of  impostures  in  the 
world.     This  may  do  when  speaking  of  tlie  origin  of 
local    and    temporary  movements,  but  not    when    we 
approach  the    deepest  and    mightiest  movement    that 
has  appeared  on  the  earth.     It  is  admitted  that  delu- 
sions are  not  uncommon  ;  that  fanaticism,  and  enthusi- 
asm, and  interest,  and  fraud,  and,  possibly,  all  these 
combined,  may  go  a  great   way ;    but   is    it  possible 
that  any  thing  thus  originated  should  overturn  systems 
the  most  deeply  seated,   and  receive   the  homage  of 
the  highest  intellect  and  of  the  most  extensive  learn- 
ing  the   world  has  ever  seen,  and  gain  vigor   by  op- 
position,   and    survive,    for    eighteen    hundred    years, 
every  change  in  the  forms  of  society,  and,  at  the  end 
of  that    time,  stand  at  the   head  of  those  influences 
which  are  leading  mankind  on   to  a  higher  destiny  ? 
For  such  a  religion,  or  delusion,  or  movement,  to  arise, 
is  not  an  every-day  occurrence.     It  is  altogether  un- 
precedented in  the  history  of  the   race  ;     and   to  put 
aside    the    question    of  its    origin    by   telling  us   that 
mankind  are  easily  deceived,  is  much  the  same   as  it 
would  be  to  put  aside  the  question  about  the  origin  of 
the  Gulf  Stream  by  telling  us  that  water  is  an  element 
very  easily  moved  in  different  directions.     Certainly, 
water  is  a  fluctuating  and  unstable  element ;  but  to  say 
this,  is  not  to  account  for  a  broad  current  in  mid  ocean 
that  has  been  uniform  since  time  began  ;  nor  is  it  any 
account  of  a  uniform  current  of  thought  and  feeling, 
setting  in  one  direction  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  to 
say  that  the  human  mind  is  fluctuating  and  unstable ; 
that   man   has   been   often   deceived ;    and   that   there 
have  been  great  extravagances  in  belief.      The  origm 


200  LECTURE    VII. 

of  such  a  movement  is  to  be  investigated,  and  not  to 
be  shrouded  in  mist.  The  New  Testament  gives  a 
full  and  satisfactory  account  of  it ;  and  it  behoves  those 
who  do  not  receive  that  account,  to  substitute  some 
other  that  shall,  at  least,  be  plausible.  This  they  have 
failed  to  do.  Perhaps  no  one  was  more  competent  to 
do  this,  or  has  been  more  successful,  than  Gibbon ;  and 
yet  the  five  causes  which  he  assigns  for  the  spread  of 
Christianity — namely,  "  the  zeal  of  Christians,"  "their 
doctrine  of  a  future  life,"  "  the  miraculous  powers 
ascribed  to  the  primitive  church,"  "their  pure  and 
austere  morals,"  and  "  their  union  "  —  are  obviously 
effects  of  that  very  religion  of  which  they  are  assigned 
as  the  cause. 

To  me,  when  I  look  at  this  religion,  taking  its  point 
of  departure  from  the  earliest  period  in  the  history  of 
the  race  ;  when  I  see  it  analogous  to  nature  ;  when  I 
see  it  comprising  all  that  natural  rehgion  teaches,  and 
introducing  a  new  system  in  entire  harmony  with  it, 
but  which  could  not  have  been  deduced  from  it;  wKeii 
I  see  it  commending  itself  to  the  conscience  of  man, 
containing  a  perfect  code  of  morals,  meeting  all  his 
moral  wants,  and  embosoming  the. only  true  principles 
of  economical  and  political  science  ;  when  I  see  in  it 
the  best  possible  system  of  excitement  and  restraint 
for  all  the  faculties  ;  when  1  see  how  simple  it  is  in 
its  principle,  and  yet  in  how  many  thousand  ways  it 
mingles  in  with  human  affairs,  and  modifies  them  for 
good,  so  that  it  is  adapted  to  become  universal ;  when 
I  see  it  giving  an  account  of  the  termination  of  all 
things,  worthy  of  God  and  consistent  with  reason  ;  — 
to  me,  when  I  look  at  all  these  things,  it  no  more 
seems  possible  that  the  system  of  Christianity  should 


LECTURE    V[ I.  201 

have  been  originated  or  sustained  by  man,  tlian  it 
does  that  the  ocean  should  have  been  made  by  liim. 
These  considerations,  however,  have  been  adduced  to 
elucidate  that  phase  of  the  argument  by  which  it  was 
intended  to  show  that  the  religion  must  have  come  from 
God,  and  I  shall  not  further  apply  them  here  except 
as  — 

I  observe,  that  the  more  we  examine  the  state  of 
opinions  among  the  Jews,  or  among  the  surrounding 
nations,  at  the  time  Christianity  arose,  the  greater  will 
be  our  surprise  that  it  should  be  what  it  is,  respecting, 
almost  all  those  cardinal  points  which  it  does  not 
so  much  reveal  as  take  for  granted.  Such  are  the 
unity  and  spirituality  of  God,  his  holy  character,  the 
spirituality  of  his  worship,  his  paternal  relation  to  us, 
the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection  and  of  human  accounta- 
bility. The  most  of  these  doctrines  are  not  so  much 
systematically  taught,  as  implied,  in  Christianity,  and 
they  are  not  only  consistent  with  reason,  but  are 
essential  as  conditions  to  the  end  which  Christianity 
proposes  to  itself. 

And  this  leads  me  to  observe,  that  the  end  proposed 
by  Christianity,  distinctly  announced  from  the  first, 
and  perseveringly  adhered  to,  was  one  which  could 
not  have  been  adopted  either  Iby  an  enthusiast  or  an 
impostor.  In  the  very  first  annunciation  of  the  gospel, 
it  was  said  by  the  angel,  "  Thou  shalt  call  his  name 
Jesus  ;  for  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins." 
Christ  himself  said  that  he  came  "  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost" — "that  the  world  through  him 
might  be  saved."  Peter  calls  upon  men  to  "  repent, 
and  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
remission  of  sins  ; "  and,  again,  to  "  repent  and  be  con- 


202  LECTURE    VII. 

verted,  that  their  sins  may  be  blotted  out."  Nothing 
can  be  plainer  than  that  the  great  end  of  Christianity 
is  to  deliver  men  from  the  power  and  the  consequences 
of  sin  under  the  government  of  God.  With  the  light 
which  we  now  have,  we  can  see  that  the  object  of  a 
religion  from  God  must  be  to  correct  the  state  of  the 
heart ;  but  this  object  could  never  have  been  adopted 
by  enthusiasm.  It  is  not  of  a  character  to  awaken 
enthusiasm,  for  it  implies  a  recognition  of  guilt,  and, 
moreover,  it  involves  a  clear  perception  of  the  deepest 
and  most  fundamental  truth  on  which  the  reformation 
of  the  world  depends.  Before  the  miseries  of  the 
world  can  be  removed,  their  cause  must  be  known ;  and 
this  shows  an  insiirht  into  the  cause  of  human  wretch- 
edness  such  as  we  find  nowhere  else.  Men  are  un- 
happy, perhaps  wretched,  and  they  impute  it  to  fate, 
to  others,  to  the  want  of  wealth  or  of  external  advan- 
tages, or  to  the  constitution  of  society  ;  but  Christianity 
takes  it  for  granted  that  sin,  moral  guilt,  is  the  true 
cause,  the  cause  of  all  the  other  causes,  of  the  unhap- 
piness  of  man ;  and  that,  in  saving  him  from  this,  it 
saves  him  from  every  thing  that  a  rational  being  has 
to  fear.  And  is  not  this  so?  Does  not  man  bring 
upon  himself,  by  his  sins,  the  greater  part  of  the  evils 
which  he  suffers?  Remove  war,  and  the  fear  of  it; 
remove  dishonesty  of  every  kind ;  remove  indolence, 
and  intemperance,  and  licentiousness,  and  envy,  and 
detraction,  and  revenge,  and  pride,  and  a  selfish  ambi- 
tion, —  and  let  the  virtues  opposite  to  these  reign ; 
remove,  also,  those  apprehensions  and  terrors  of 
conscience,  and  that  fear  of  death,  which  come  in 
consequence  of  sin,  —  and  this  world  would  become 
comparatively   a   paradise.     Christianity,  then,  strikes 


LECTURE  VII.  203 

at  the  true  cause  of  all  the  miseries  of  man.  In- 
stead of  endeavoring  to  check  or  control  particular 
streams  of  evil,  it  goes  at  once  to  the  fountain  whence 
all  those  streams  flow,  and  would  seal  that  up  forever. 
To  my  mind,  nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that  moral 
evil  is  the  true  cause  of  the  miseries  of  the  world  ;  but 
can  this  deep,  and  sober,  and  philosophical  view  of  the 
cause  of  human  misery,  and  an  attempt  to  remove  it, 
be  the  product  of  enthusiasm  ?  Of  all  feelings,  a  con- 
sciousness of  guilt  is  that  which  most  represses  en- 
thusiasm. An  enthusiast,  therefore,  could  not  come  to 
those  only  who  would  acknowledge  themselves  guilty, 
and  call  them  to  the  unwelcome  duty  of  repentance, 
and  of  renouncing  cherished  indulgences  and  habits. 
He  could  not  say,  "  They  that  are  whole  need  not  a 
physician,  but  they  that  are  sick."  "  I  am  not  come  to 
call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance." 

But  if  such  an  object  could  not  have  been  selected 
by  an  enthusiast,  much  less  could  it  have  been  by  an 
impostor.  An  impostor  must  have  a  personal  and 
selfish  motive  ;  but  suppose  this  object  gained,  of  what 
advantage  would  it  be  to  him  ?  Is  it  not  a  contra- 
diction to  suppose  an  impostor  to  call  upon  men  to 
repent  of  all  sin,  when,  in  the  very  act  of  thus  calling 
upon  them,  he  is  guilty  of  one  of  the  blackest  sins  of 
which  man  is  capable  ?  And,  further,  an  impostor  esti- 
mates the  chances  of  success.  But  let  any  man  look 
at  the  state  of  things  when  Christ  appeared,  and 
see  what  chance  there  could  have  been,  in  the  eye 
of  an  impostor,  that  such  an  object  should  succeed. 
The  great  doctrines  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of 
repentance  were  but  very  imperfectly  known.  Super- 
stition and  formality  had  almost  entirely  excluded  the 


204  LECTURE    VII. 

spirit  of  any  true  religion,  whether  natural  or  revealed. 
Sin,  as  such,  was  not  disliked  or  deplored ;  and  if  in 
any  case  it  should  be,  the  Jews  had  a  mode  for  its 
removal,  as  they  supposed,  divinely  constituted,  and 
with  which  they  were  satisfied ;  while  the  Gentiles 
were  attached  to  their  own  religions,  and  hated  and 
despised  the  Jews.  Now,  in  such  a  state  of  things, 
for  an  impostor  —  a  young  man  without  learning,  or 
wealth,  or  influential  friends  ;  a  Jew,  who  would  natu- 
rally have  shared  in  the  prejudices  and  national  feel- 
ings of  his  countrymen — to  arise  and  call  upon  men  to 
repent  of  sin  in  general,  and  believe  in  him ;  at  the 
same  time  proposing  no  definite  scheme,  either  political 
or  ecclesiastical;  directing  the  energies  of  his  followers 
to  nothing  that  could  gratify  their  ambition,  or  love  of 
gain  or  pleasure,  on  earth ;  and  proposing  rewards, 
hereafter,  that  can  be  enjoyed  only  as  men  are  morally 
good,  —  and  yet  to  make  such  an  impression  upon  the 
world  as  to  overturn  systems  that  had  stood  for  ages, — 
does  seem  to  me  far  more  improbable  than  any  miracle 
recorded  in  the  Bible.  The  disparity  between  the 
means  employed  and  the  effect  to  be  produced  would 
not  be  greater,  if  a  single,  unaided  man  should  attempt 
to  unseat  Mount  Atlas,  and  lift  it  from  its  bed.  In 
making  it  its  object  to  remove  guilt,  and  to  rectify  the 
state  of  the  heart  before  God,  Christianity  stands 
alone  ;  and  we  can  now  see  that  this  is  the  only 
ultimate  object  which  a  religion  from  God  could 
propose.  To  my  mind,  therefore,  the  simple  choice 
of  this  object,  requiring  such  breadth  and  accuracy  of 
view,  so  impossible  to  have  been  chosen  by  enthu- 
siasm or  imposture,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
movement  produced    by   Christianity,  is    a   sufficient 


LECTURE    VII.  205 

proof  that  it  originatod  with  God,  and  was  accompa- 
nied by  a  divine  power. 

But  perhaps  the  success  in  carrying  forward  this 
object  may  be  accounted  for  by  a  skilful  adaptation 
of  some  features  of  the  system  to  the  prejudices,  or 
wants,  or  habits  of  thought,  of  the  age.  Did  Christ, 
then,  adapt  his  system  to  the  prejudices  and  expecta- 
tions of  the  Jews  ?  So  far  from  this,  nothing  could 
have  been  more  strongly  opposed  to  all  the  habits  of 
thought  and  long-cherished  associations  both  of  Jews 
and  of  Gentiles.  This  point  has  been  most  ably  pre- 
sented by  Bishop  Sumner,  of  whose  labors  I  shall  avail 
myself  in  the  particulars  I  shall  adduce  respecting  it. 

The  Jews  were  divided  into  three  great  sects  —  the 
Pharisees,  the  Sadducees,  and  Essenes.  The  senti- 
ments and  modes  of  thought  of  the  first  two  are 
sufficiently  known.  The  Essenes  were  a  compara- 
tively small  sect,  professing  a  community  of  goods  and 
the  most  austere  celibacy.  Among  these  sects  were 
found  the  great  and  influential  men  of  the  nation  ;  but 
neither  of  these  did  Christ  endeavor  in  the  least  to 
propitiate,  but  he  attacked  them  all  equally.  With 
the  general  tone  of  thought,  and  laxity  of  morals,  of  the 
Sadducees,  his  whole  system  was  in  direct  conflict ; 
and  we  all  know  how  terrible  were  his  denunciations 
of  the  Pharisees  and  scribes,  as  hypocrites  and  formal- 
ists, and  as  having  put  false  glosses  upon  the  law  of 
God.  The  spirit  of  sect  is  among  the  most  bitter  and 
formidable  that  can  be  aroused  ;  but,  instead  of  taking 
advantage  of  this,  or  of  commending  himself  to  any 
party,  Christ  armed  every  influence  that  could  be 
drawn  from  such  sources  against  himself. 


206  LECTURE    VII. 

But,  though  the  Jews  were  divided  into  sects,  there 
were  many  points  which  they  held  in  common  as 
Jews,  and  which  were  to  them  the  ground  of  a  strong 
and  exclusive  national  feeling.  If  we  can  suppose  it 
possible  that  Christ  himself  should  have  risen  superior 
to  all  the  prejudices  and  associations  of  his  nation,  yet, 
if  we  look  at  him  either  as  an  enthusiast  or  an  impos- 
tor, we  cannot  suppose  he  would  have  gone  counter 
to  every  feeling  that  was  strongly  and  distinctively 
Jewish ;  much  less  can  we  suppose  he  would  have 
attempted  to  bring  to  an  end  a  system  which  he 
himself,  in  common  with  all  his  countrymen,  acknowl- 
edged to  be  from  God,  and  to  the  rites  of  which  he 
conformed.     Yet  so  did  Christ. 

Hence  I  observe,  that,  while  Christ  claimed  to  be 
the  Messiah  expected  by  the  Jews,  his  whole  appear- 
ance, and  character,  and  object,  were  totally  opposed 
to  all  their  interpretations  of  prophecy,  and  wishes, 
and  long-cherished  anticipations.  In  the  language  of 
Sumner,  "  They  looked  for  a  conqueror,  a  temporal 
king,  and  had  been  accustomed  to  interpret  in  this 
sense  all  the  prophecies  which  foretold  his  coming. 
The  Jews  were  at  the  time  suffering  under  a  foreign 
yoke,  which  they  bore  with  great  uneasiness  and  im- 
patience. And  whether  we  suppose  Jesus  to  have 
been  an  impostor  or  enthusiast,  this  is  the  character 
which  he  would  naturally  assume.  If  he  were  an  en- 
thusiast, his  mind  would  have  been  filled  with  the 
popular  belief,  and  his  imagination  fired  with  the 
national  ideas  of  victory  and  glory.  If  he  were  an  im- 
postor, the  general  expectation  would  coincide  with 
the  only  motive  to  which  his  conduct  can  be  attributed 
—  ambition   and   the  desire  of  personal    aggrandize- 


LECTURE    VII.  207 

meiit.  How,  then,  can  we  explain  his  rejecting,  from 
the  first,  and  throughout  liis  whole  career,  all  the 
advantage  which  he  might  have  derived  from  the  pre- 
vious expectation  of  the  people,  and  even  his  turning 
it  against  himself  and  his  cause  ?  Why  should  he,  as 
a  Jew,  have  interpreted  the  prophetic  Scriptures  differ- 
ently from  all  other  Jews  ?  Why  should  he,  as  an 
impostor,  have  deprived  himself  of  all  personal  benefit 
from  his  design  ?  "  * 

Again ;  "  No  feeling  could  be  stronger,  or  better 
founded,  than  the  veneration  of  the  Jews  for  the  Mo- 
saic law.  The  account  of  its  origin  which  had  come 
down  to  them  from  their  ancestors  ;  its  singularity ;  the 
effect  that  singularity  had  produced  in  establishing  a 
wide  separation  between  themselves  and  other  nations  ; 
above  all,  the  important  results  which  they  expected 
from  obeying  it,  as  entitling  them  to  the  favor  and  pro- 
tection of  God ;  all  these  circumstances  united  to  ren- 
der that  attachment  to  their  national  law,  which  is 
common  among  every  people,  inconceivably  strong  in 
the  case  of  the  Jews."  Yet  Christ  said  to  these  same 
Jews,  "  The  law  and  the  prophets  were  until  John." 
Himself  acknowledging  its  divine  origin,  he  yet  abro- 
gated the  ceremonial  law,  and  put  new  interpretations 
upon  the  moral  law.  Of  the  distinction  between  these 
he  had  the  most  accurate  perception  ;  for,  while  he 
struck  down  the  one,  declaring  that  the  hour  had 
come  in  which  men  need  no  longer  worship  at  Jerusa- 
lem, but  that  every  where  the  true  worship})ers  should 
worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  he  yet  de- 
clared that  heaven  and  earth  should  pass  away  sooner 

*  Sumner's  Evidences,  chap.  ii. 


203  LECTURE   VII. 

than  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  moral  law  should  fail. 
But  though  he  retained  the  law  as  the  moral  code  of 
the  universe,  he  jet  abrogated  it  so  far  as  it  applied 
exclusively  to  the  Jews,  and  in  all  those  respects  in 
which  it  was  chiefly  valued  by   them. 

Further  ;  "  It  was  a  favorite  belief  among  the  Jews, 
confirmed  by  the  whole  course  of  their  history,  that 
their  nation  enjoyed  the  exclusive  regard  and  pro- 
tection of  the  true  God.  But  the  first  principle  of 
the  Christian  religion  tended  to  dislodge  the  Jews 
from  these  high  pretensions,  and  to  admit  all  other 
nations,  indiscriminately,  within  the  pale  of  God's 
church." 

And,  once  more ;  "  The  city  of  Jerusalem  was  uni- 
versally believed  to  be  secure  under  the  especial  care 
of  God,  as  being  the  seat  of  the  only  true  religion, 
and  its  temple  consecrated  to  his  peculiar  service  by 
divine  institution  and  ancient  usage.  Yet  Christ  and 
his  disciples  declared  that  total  destruction  was  quickly 
approaching  both  the  temple  and  the  city." 

Thus  Ciirist  not  only  armed  against  himself  the 
spirit  of  sect,  but  also  that  peculiar  national  feeling 
which  was  stronger  among  the  Jews  than  among  any 
other  people.  But  while  he  did  this,  and  while  it 
was  declared,  from  the  first,  that  he  should  be  a  light 
to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  he  himself  never  went  among 
the  Gentiles,  but  declared  that  he  was  not  sent  but 
to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  All  this,  we 
may  safely  say,  neither  an  enthusiast  nor  an  impos- 
tor could  have  done. 

But,  while  the  origin  of  Christianity  is  so  anoma- 
lous and  inexplicable  on  the  supposition  that  the 
agents  were  actuated  by  merely  human  motives,  every 


LECTURE   VII.  200 

thing  becomes  perfectly  consistent  and  reasonable  the 
moment  we  suppose  they  were  the  agents  of  God  to 
introduce  a  new  and  universal  religion.  If  such  a 
religion  was  to  be  introduced,  the  whole  Jewish  econ- 
omy must  of  necessity  have  been  removed.  But  was 
a  Jewish  peasant,  unlettered  and  untravelled,  going 
up  with  his  countrymen  every  year  to  Jerusalem,  the 
person  to  see  this  ?  Was  he  to  have  the  inconceiva- 
ble arrogance  to  assume  to  himself  the  authority  to 
remove  that  dispensation,  at  the  same  time  that  he 
admitted  it  to  be  from  God  ? 

I  proceed  to  another  point.  Extraordinary  as  was 
the  character  of  Christ,  and  unaccountable  as  was 
his  conduct  while  he  was  alive,  yet,  if  we  suppose 
him  to  have  been  either  an  enthusiast  or  an  imi)ostor, 
there  must  have  been  some  one  among  his  disciples, 
after  his  death,  whose  character  and  conduct  were 
still  more  extraordinary  and  unaccountable  ;  for  it  is 
to  be  remembered  that,  on  this  supposition,  Christ 
cannot,  with  any  propriety,  be  said  to  be  the  origina- 
tor of  the  system  wliich  bears  his  name.  This  is  a 
j)oiut  not  sufficiently  noticed,  if  indc(>d  it  has  been 
noticed  at  all. 

It  will  not  be  denied  that  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  system.  It  did  so  in  the 
mind  of  Paid  when  he  wrote  to  the  Corinthians  that, 
if  Christ  were  not  raised,  their  faith  was  vain ;  and 
it  has  been  regarded  as  fundamental  by  Christians 
ever  since.  Did  Christ,  then,  or  did  he  not,  know  the 
place  which  his  death,  and  the  story  of  his  resurrec- 
tion, were  to  have  in  the  Christian  system  ?  If  we 
suppose  him  to  have   been  any  thing  except  what  he 


210  LECTURE  VII. 

claimed  to  be,  he  could  not  have  known  this.  With- 
out the  gift  of  prophecy,  he  could  not  have  known 
that  the  Roman  governor  would  sentence  him  to 
death.  Besides,  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  any  en- 
thusiast or  impostor  could  frame  a  scheme  of  which 
his  own  death  on  the  cross,  and  a  story  of  his  resur- 
rection, to  be  started  and  substantiated  by  others, 
should  form  a  necessary  part.  His  death  must,  then, 
on  the  supposition  on  which  we  are  arguing,  have 
been  unexpected,  both  to  himself  and  to  his  follow- 
ers. His  schemes,  whatever  they  were,  must  have 
perished  with  him;  for  of  the  Christian  system,  as  con- 
tained in  the  New  Testament,  involving  his  own 
death  and  resurrection,  he  could,  by  no  possibility, 
have  had  any  conception.  This  system  did  not  be- 
come possible  till  after  his  death.  Previous  to  that, 
the  very  foundation  of  it  had  no  existence,  nor  could 
it  even  have  had  if  his  death  had  not  been  public  ; 
for,  otherwise,  his  death  would  not  have  been  certain, 
and  the  story  of  the  resurrection  would  have  excited 
no  attention. 

Who,  then,  was  that  man,  the  true  author  of  Chris- 
tianity, of  quick  and  original  thought,  who,  in  that 
moment  when  the  Jews  supposed  they  had  triumphed, 
when  the  plans  of  Christ  himself,  whatever  they  were, 
had  failed,  saw,  from  the  very  fact  of  the  crucifixion, 
that  a  story  of  a  resurrection  might  be  framed,  and 
be  so  connected  with  the  former  life  and  instructions 
of  Christ,  and  with  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  as  to  form 
the  basis  of  a  new  religion  ?  Who  was  this  master- 
spirit,—  for  the  unity  of  the  system  shows  that  it  must 
have  been  the  product  of  one  mind,  —  who  was  so 
prompt  in  combining  the  fearful  fact  of  his  master's 


LECTURE    VH.  211 

execution,  and  the  strange  story  of  the  resurrection, 
with  his  former  life  and  teachings,  so  as  to  make  one 
connected  whole  ?  Who  rallied  the  dispersed  and  dis- 
heartened disciples,  opened  to  them  his  plan  of  decep- 
tion, assigned  to  each  his  part,  and  induced  tliem  to 
stand  firm  by  the  cause  even  unto  death  ?  Certainly, 
if  Christ  was  not  what  he  claimed  to  be,  there  was 
some  one  concerned,  in  the  orioin  of  the  Christian 
system,  who  ^vas  a  greater  and  more  extraordinary 
person  than  he,  and  the  true  author  of  that  system  is 
unknown. 

But  here  let  me  ask,  supposing  such  a  scheme  to 
have  been  originated,  whether  any  person  of  common 
sense  could  possibly  have  hoped  for  its  success ; 
whether  any  but  madmen  could  have  been  persuaded 
to  engage  in  it.  For  what  was  the  scheme  ?  It 
was  nothing  less  than  to  persuade  all  mankind  to 
receive  one,  as  a  Saviour,  and  to  believe  in  him  as  the 
final  Judge  of  the  world,  who,  they  themselves  ac- 
knowledged, had  been  put  to  death  by  crucifixion 
between  two  thieves.  And,  in  order  to  realize  fully 
what  this  undertaking  was,  we  must  further,  first, 
remember  how  alien  from  all  the  habits  of  thought 
among  the  Gentiles  and  among  most  of  the  Jews, 
how  utterly  improbable,  the  story  of  a  resurrection 
must  have  been  ;  and,  secondly,  we  must  divest  our- 
selves of  all  the  associations  which  we  have  gathered 
around  the  cross,  and,  going  back  to  that  period,  must 
furnish  our  minds  with  those  which  were  then  preva- 
lent. We  must  remember  that  the  cross  was  not  only 
an  instrument  of  public  execution  peculiarly  dreadful, 
but  also  peculiarly  ignominious ;  that  it  was  unlawful 
to  put  a  Roman  citizen  to  death  in  this  way;  and  that 


212  LECTURE   VII. 

it  was  a  punishment  reserved  only  to  slaves,  and  per- 
sons of  the  lowest  description. 

And  now,  with  these  facts  before  us,  I  ask  whether 
the  idea  of  the  resurrection  of  a  person  thus  put  to 
death,  and  of  his  exaltation  to  be  the  Saviour  of  men 
and  the  Judge  of  the  whole  earth,  occurring  to  a  person 
without  any  manifestation  of  miraculous  power,  is  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  human  thought ;  whether 
an  attempt  to  make  mankind  believe  such  a  story,  and 
to  cause  them  —  the  very  Jews  who  had  just  crucified 
him,  the  Gentiles  who  held  all  Jews  in  contempt,  and 
would  more  especially  despise  and  abhor  a  crucified 
Jew  —  whether  the  attempt  to  cause  them  to  forsake 
their  own  religions,  and  to  acknowledge  such  a  Saviour 
and  Judge,  is  compatible  with  what  we  know  of  the 
laws  of  human  action.  Can  we  conceive  of  any  en- 
thusiast so  utterly  wild,  of  any  impostor  so  utterly 
foolish,  as  to  suppose  he  could  make  such  a  story  and 
such  a  proposition  the  basis  of  a  religion  which  should 
overthrow  all  others,  and  become  universal  ?  Can  we 
conceive,  not  only  that  such  an  attempt  should  be 
made,  but  that  it  should  succeed?  The  man  who 
can  believe  this,  can  believe  any  thing.  What  an  as- 
tonishing contrast  between  such  a  point  of  departure 
of  the  Christian  religion,  and  that  moment  when  a 
Roman  emperor  turned  his  expiring  eyes  to  heaven 
and  said,   "  O  Galilean,  thou  hast  conquered  !  " 

And  here,  again,  what  is  so  entirely  unaccountable 
if  we  exclude  divine  agency,  is  perfectly  accounted 
for  the  moment  we  allow  that  these  men  were  what 
they  claimed  to  be,  and  were  endowed  with  power 
from  on  high. 

I  might  pursue  this  train  of  thought  at  great  lengthy 


LECTURE    Vll.  213 

applying  it  to  tlie  conduct  of  the  disciples  individuaily 
and  as  a  body,  and  particularly  to  the  conversion  and 
subsequent  course  of  the  aj)ostle  Paul.  I  think  it  can 
be  shown,  on  the  supposition  of  imposture  or  enthu- 
siasm—  and  no  other  is  possible  without  admitting  the 
truth  of  the  religion  —  that  the  conduct  of  these  men 
was  as  contrary  to  known  and  established  laws  of 
human  action  as  any  miracle  can  be  to  the  laws  of 
nature.  But  I  proceed  to  observe  that  no  enthusiast 
or  impostor  either  would  or  could  have  effected  that 
peculiar  connection,  doctrinal,  typical,  and  prophetical, 
which  exists  between  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian 
religion.  This  no  man  would  have  done.  For  while, 
as  I  have  just  shown,  they  rejected  so  much,  and  such 
})arts,  of  the  sj^stem  as  would  excite  to  the  utmost  the 
hostility  of  the  Jews,  they  yet  declared  it  to  be  identical 
in  spirit  with  the  Jewish  religion,  and  thus  presented 
themselves  at  a  great  disadvantage  before  the  Gentiles. 
Accordingly,  we  find  the  Roman  magistrates  speaking 
in  the  most  contemptuous  manner  of  the  whole  thing, 
as  being  a  question  of  Jewish  superstition.  Thus 
Festus,  giving  an  account  of  Paul's  case  to  Agrippa, 
said,  "  Against  whom,  when  the  accusers  stood  up, 
they  brought  none  accusation  of  such  things  as  I  sup- 
posed, but  had  certain  questions  against  him  of  their 
own  superstition,  and  of  one  Jesus,  which  was  dead, 
whom  Paul  affirmed  to  be  alive."  So,  also,  when 
Gallio  was  the  deputy  of  Achaia,  and  the  Jews  brought 
Paul  before  him,  and  he  was  about  to  defend  himself, 
Gallio  said  unto  the  Jews,  "  If  it  were  a  matter  of 
wrong  or  wicked  lewdness,  O  ye  Jews,  reason  would 
that  I  should  bear  with  you  ;  but  if  it  be  a  question 
of  words  and  names,  and  of  your  law,  look  ye  to  it; 


214  LECTURE    VII. 

for  I  will  be  no  judge  of  such  matters.  And  he  drave 
them  from  the  judgment  seat.  Then  all  the  Greeks 
took  Sosthenes,  the  chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  and 
beat  him  before  the  judgment  seat.  And  Gallio  cared 
for  none  of  those  things."  This  feeling  was  per- 
fectly natural,  and  the  author  or  authors  of  Christianity 
must  have  known  it  would  be  excited  if  such  a  con- 
nection was  retained  between  the  new  religion  and 
that  of  the  Jews.  The  course  pursued,  therefore,  was 
apparently  the  most  impolitic  that  could  have  been 
adopted,  whether  the  feelings  of  the  Jews  or  of  the 
Gentiles  were  regarded. 

But  this  is  not  the  point  of  the  greatest  difficulty. 
No  impostor,  or  enthusiast,  could  have  adopted  such  a 
course,  if  he  would.  For,  first,  no  human  wisdom  could 
have  taken  the  Jewish  system,  complicated  as  it  was, 
and  have  drawn  the  line  with  a  judgment  so  unerring 
between  those  things  which  ought  to  be  rejected  and 
those  which  might  be  retained  ;  between  those  things 
which  would,  and  those  which  would  not,  harmonize 
with  the  new  system.  And,  secondly,  that  a  system 
depending  so  much  upon  facts  over  which  the  authors 
of  it  had  no  control,  such  as  the  place  of  Christ's  birth, 
and  the  time  and  manner  of  his  death  —  a  system  that 
had  never  before  been  thought  of,  or  provided  for  —  a 
system  springing  up  at  a  particular  juncture  from 
enthusiasm  or  imposture,  —  should  have  so  many  cor- 
respondences with  a  system  originated  thousands  of 
years  before,  that  the  attempt  should  be  universally 
made  to  convert  the  Jews  by  reasoning  out  of  their 
own  Scriptures,  showing  that  "  so  it  was  written," — 
and  that  such  a  book  as  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
could  be  written, — is,  to  my  mind,  inconceivable.     Nor 


LECTURE    VII.  215 

is  it  less  inconceivable  —  what  I  have  spoken  of  in  a 
former  lecture  —  that  man  should  invent  a  system  which 
would  permit  its  advocates  to  pass  from  the  Jewish 
synagogue,  where  their  whole  argument  had  been  based 
on  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  into  a  company  of 
Athenian  philosophers,  and,  with  the  same  confidence, 
and  freedom,  and  power,  argue  with  them  from  the 
book  of  nature,  and  the  moral  constitution  and  wants 
of  man.  Nothing  can  be  more  striking  tiian  the  con- 
trast between  Paul's  speech  on  Mars  Hill  and  that 
recorded  in  the  thirteenth  of  Acts,  in  a  Jewish  syna- 
gogue at  Antioch,  or  even  that  before  Agrippa,  in 
which  he  made  the  appeal,  "  King  Agrippa,  believest 
thou  the  prophets  ?  " 

On  the  whole,  then,  laying  aside  those  analogies  and 
adaptations  by  which  it  is  shown  that  Christianity  must 
have  come  from  God,  and  taking  only  the  particulars 
adduced  in  this  lecture,  have  we  not  reason  to  conclude 
that  it  could  not  have  been  originated  by  man  ? 

I  have  thus  far  spoken  chiefly  of  the  system  of  Chris- 
tianitv.  I  shall  devote  the  remainder  of  this  lecture  to 
the  consideration  of  some  points  of  evidence  drawn  from 
the  books  in  which  its  records  and  doctrines  are  con- 
tained—  confining  myself,  however,  to  such  as  must  be 
judged  of  in  the  same  way  as  those  which  we  have 
been  considering.  These  books  open  to  us  a  field-of 
such  evidence  as  every  man  of  good  sense  and  candor 
can  judge  of,  scarcely  less  extensive  and  rich  than  the 
system  itself;  but  to  this  my  time  will  permit  me  but 
briefly  to  refer. 

1  observe,  then,  in  accordance  with  the  general  scope 
of  this  lecture,  that  no  impostor,  or  enthusiast,  cither 


216  LECTURE    VII. 

would,  or  could,  have  written  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament. 

And,  first,  no  such  person  would  have  written  them  ; 
for  they  are  of  such  a  character  that  it  is  impossible 
to  assign  a  motive  for  a  forgery.  The  motive  could 
not  have  been  gain.  For  what  is  the  relation  of  these 
books  to  Christianity  ?  Plainly,  they  presuppose  its 
existence.  To  suppose  that  the  books  themselves, 
coming  out  as  a  mere  bald,  naked  fiction,  could  have 
been  received  by  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  have 
worked  a  revolution  in  society,  and  that,  too,  in  an  age 
when  printing  was  unknown,  and  the  number  and  in- 
fluence of  books  were  comparatively  small,  is  absurd. 
Christianity  must  then  have  sprung  up,  and  spread 
more  or  less  extensivelv,  and  then  the  books  must 
have  been  written  to  give  an  account  of  its  origin 
and  progress.  If,  then,  gain  had  been  the  object,  it 
was  necessary  to  write  an  account  that  could  not 
be  discredited.  No  forgery  could  have  escaped  both 
neglect  and  contempt. 

Nor  could  the  motive  have  been  fame.  No  one, 
from  reading  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  would  suspect 
who  the  author  was.  He  speaks  of  himself  very  little, 
and  mentions  that  he  belonged  to  a  class  who  were 
despised  and  hated  by  the  Jews.  Would  any  man, 
could  any  man,  compose  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  —  a 
production,  for  its  beauty,  and  majestic  simplicity,  and 
morality,  unequalled  since  the  world  stood  —  for  fame, 
and  then  ascribe  it  to  a  fictitious  person,  or  one  whom 
he  knew  to  be  an  impostor? 

Nor  could  his  motive  have  been  power  or  influence. 
No  book  was  ever  more  unskilfully  constructed  for 
such  a  purpose.     It  had  no  connection  with  politics  or 


LECTURE    VII.  217 

parties,  nor  does  it  contain  any  thing  to  give  distinction 
or  influence  to  its  autlior.  What,  then,  could  have 
induced  a  man  capable  of  surpassing,  as  a  moralist 
and  as  a  deep  thinker,  all  the  philosophers  of  antiquity, 
to  conceal  himself  entirely  behind  an  impostor  ?  How 
could  he  have  induced  the  world  to  mistake  that  im- 
postor for  himself? 

And  what  is  thus  true  of  the  Gospels,  and  of  the 
Acts,  is  equally  true  of  the  Epistles.  Indeed,  there 
are  some  circumstances  which  would  seem  to  render  a 
forgery  of  these  peculiarly  improbable.  If  1  were  to 
select  the  last  form  in  which  a  forgery  would  be 
likely  to  come  before  the  world,  it  would  be  this. 
These  are  extraordinary  productions,  and  it  is  incon- 
ceivable that  any  man  should  introduce  them  into  the 
world  by  the  fiction  of  addressing  them  to  a  church, 
and  should  connect  such  admirable  sentiments  with 
the  details  of  their  peculiar  difficulties,  and  with  salu- 
tations addressed  to  many  persons  by  name.  Let  any 
man  read  the  last  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  (which  is  almost  entirely  made  up  of  greet- 
ings and  salutations,)  and  ask  himself  if  it  is  possible 
that  any  man,  writing  a  letter  for  the  purpose  of 
deception,  could  have  written  it.  Observe  his  par- 
ticularity. Not  only  does  Paul  himself  salute  many 
persons,  but  Timotheus,  his  work-fellow,  is  joined  with 
him,  and  Lucius,  and  Jason,  and  Sosipater,  his  kins- 
man, and  Tertius,  who  wrote  the  Epistle,  and  Gains, 
his  host,  and  Erastus,  the  chamberlain  of  the  city,  and 
Quartus,  a  brother. 

If,  however,  it  should  be  said  that  there  were  forge- 
ries afterwards,  I  reply,  that  all  great  originals,  all 
genuine  articles  of  great  value,  present  temptations  to 

28 


218  LECTURE    VII. 

imitation  and  forgery,  but  there  is  no  such  tempta- 
tion to  forge  the  original  work.  No  instance  of  such 
a  forgery  can  be  adduced. 

The  strong  point  here,  however,  is,  that  no  enthu- 
siast or  impostor  could  have  forged  these  books.  This 
is  manifest  from  the  marks  of  honesty  which  they 
bear  upon  their  face.  It  is  with  books  as  with  men. 
Without  stating  to  ourselves  the  ground  of  it,  we  all 
form  a  judgment  of  the  character  of  men  from  their 
appearance.  There  is  in  some  men  an  appearance 
of  openness,  and  candor,  and  fairness,  in  all  they  do 
and  say,  which  can  hardly  be  mistaken.  There  is 
often  something  in  the  appearance  and  modes  o\ 
statement  of  a  witness  on  the  stand,  there  are  certain 
undefinable  but  very  appreciable  marks  of  honesty 
or  of  dishonesty,  which  will  and  ought  to  go  very  far, 
with  one  who  has  been  accustomed  to  observe  men 
under  such  circumstances,  in  fixing  the  character  of 
his  testimony.  Now,  this  is  remarkably  the  case  with 
the  writings  of  the  New  Testament.  We  cannot  read 
a  chapter  without  feeling  that  we  are  dealing  with 
realities.  The  writers  show  no  consciousness  of  any 
possibility  that  their  statements  should  be  doubted. 
They  have  the  air  of  persons  who  state  things  perfectly 
well  known.  They  express  no  wonder ;  they  do  not 
seem  to  expect  that  their  statements,  extraordinary  as 
they  are,  will  excite  any ;  they  enter  into  no  explana- 
tions, attempt  to  remove  or  evade  no  difficulties ;  they 
speak  freely  of  their  own  faults  and  weaknesses ;  they 
flatter  no  one ;  they  express  no  malice  towards  any. 
There  is  no  ambition  of  fine  writing,  no  special  plead- 
ing, no  attempt  to  conceal  circumstances  apparently 
unfavorable  —  as  the  agony  of  Christ  in  the  garden,  so 


LECTURE    VII.  219 

liable  to  be  imputed  to  weakness ;  the  fact  that  he 
was  forsaken  of  God  on  the  cross,  that  Peter  denied 
Jiim,  and  that  the  disciples  forsook  him  and  fled. 
Their  narratives  are  minute,  circumstantial,  graphic, 
giving  the  names  of  persons  and  the  time  and  the 
place  of  events.  At  every  step  they  lay  themselves 
open  to  detection  if  their  accounts  are,  I  will  not  say 
fabrications,  but  false  in  any  respect.  Do  they  give 
us  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount?  They  tell  us  that 
multitudes  heard  it.  Do  they  give  an  account  of  the 
resurrection  of  Lazarus  ?  They  give  the  place  and 
the  family,  and  state  its  effects  upon  different  classes 
of  persons.  Do  they  speak  of  the  Roman  governor, 
or  of  the  high  priest  ?  They  mention  his  name. 
There  is  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  Capernaum,  and  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  temple  with  its  goodly  stones.  There 
are  the  Jewish  feasts,  and  their  sects,  and  traditions. 
Every  thing  is  thoroughly  Jewish,  and  still  there  is  the 
publican  and  the  Roman  soldier.  All  these  seem  to 
stand  before  us  with  the  distinctness  of  life  —  not  by 
the  force  of  rhetorical  painting,  but  by  the  simple  nar- 
ration of  truth. 

The  chief  difficulty,  however,  in  fabricating  these 
books,  would  not  have  been  in  giving  them  singly 
an  air  of  truth,  however  striking  and  life-like,  but 
in  constructing  so  many  of  them  with  such  numer- 
ous and  incidental  marks  of  correspondence  as  to 
negative  entirely  the  supposition  of  imposture.  And 
here  it  ought  to  be  observed,  that  the  number  of 
books  is  itself  a  strong  reason  for  supposing  that 
there  was  no  imposture.  An  imposture  would  nat- 
urally have  appeared  in  one  well-considered  and 
well-guarded    account.       So  have   all    impostures   of 


220  LECTURE   VII. 

the  kind  appeared.  The  Koran  was  wholly  written 
by  one  man.  So  was  the  Mormon  Bible.  But  here 
we  have  twenty-seven  books,  or  letters,  written  by 
eight  different  men,  each  implying  the  truth  of  most  of 
the  others,  and,  as  they  stand,  giving  an  opportunity 
for  comparison,  and  for  what  the  lawyers  would  call 
cross-questioning,  which  must  have  proved  fatal  to  any 
fabrication,  and  to  which  imposture  was  never  known 
to  subject  itself.  We  have  four  independent  histories 
of  Christ.  Between  these  there  are  a  few  apparent 
discrepancies  respecting  minor  points,  such  as  will 
always  occur  when  independent  witnesses  state  their 
own  impressions  respecting  a  series  of  events.  These 
lie  for  the  most  part  on  the  surface,  are  such  as  might 
have  been  easily  avoided,  and  such  as  imposture  cer- 
tainly would  have  avoided.  They  show  that  the  wit- 
nesses were  independent,  that  there  was  no  collusion 
between  them  ;  while  the  points  of  agreement  are  so 
many,  and  of  such  a  character,  as  can  be  accounted  for 
only  on  the  supposition  of  truth. 

Of  the  advantages  thus  furnished,  the  opposers  of 
Christianity  have  eagerly  availed  themselves  ;  but  they 
are  careful  not  to  state,  if,  indeed,  they  reflect,  that 
the  very  fact  that  these  advantages  are  thus  gratu- 
itously furnished  shows  the  conscious  security  of  truth, 
and  affords  the  strongest  possible  presumption  that 
nothing  can  be  made  of  them.  They  have,  however, 
been  made  the  ground  of  petty  objections,  and  small 
cavils,  by  a  class  of  men  having  the  same  turn  of  mind 
as  Paine,  and  that  kind  of  acquaintance  with  the  New 
Testament  indicated  by  him  when  he  ranked  the 
evangelist  Luke  as  one  of  the  eleven  apostles.  These 
men  have  discovered,  for  example,  that  the  same  words 


LECTURE    VII,  221 

are  not  given  by  the  different  evangelists  as  forming 
the  superscription  over  the  head  of  Christ ;  and  also 
that,  while  one  says  he  was  crucified  at  the  third  hour, 
another  says  it  was  the  sixth.  In  general,  such  objec- 
tions are  easily  answered.  They  arise  from  mere 
omissions,  or  from  our  ignorance  of  local  customs,  and 
are  constantly  diminished  in  number  by  more  thorough 
research.  In  the  first  of  the  cases  just  mentioned,  it 
would  be  sufficient  if  the  substance  of  the  superscrip- 
tion were  given,  without  verbal  accuracy ;  but  it  is  to 
be  remembered  that  it  was  WTitten  in  three  difTerent 
languages,  and  the  expressions  may  have  varied ;  or  if, 
as  is  very  probable,  they  translated  the  Hebrew  title 
into  the  Greek,  we  all  know  that  there  might  be 
different  forms  of  expression.  If  two  men  were  to 
translate  a  similar  expression  from  Latin  into  English, 
they  probably  would  not  adopt  the  same  words.  In 
the  second  case,  the  difficulty  is  obviated  by  supposing 
that  one  of  the  evangelists  made  use  of  the  Roman, 
and  the  other  of  the  Jewish  method  of  computing  time  ; 
or  by  supposing  a  mistake  in  copying  some  manu- 
scripts of  John's  Gospel,  by  a  slight  change  of  the 
numeral  letter,  —  the  two  Greek  numerals  much  re- 
sembling each  other,  —  the  other  reading,  "the  third 
hour,"  being  confirmed  by  several  ancient  manuscripts 
and  authors,  and  approved  by  almost  all  critical  editors 
of  the  Greek  Testament.  Discrepancies  of  this  kind 
are  few  in  number ;  for  the  best  effect  of  the  evidence 
upon  a  fair  mind,  we  should  not  wish  them  fewer: 
while  the  coincidences,  evidently  undesigned,  between 
the  four  Gospels,  and  between  the  Gospels  and  the 
Acts,  are  so  numerous  as  to  have  been  collected,  by 
Mr.  Blunt,  into  a  volume. 


222  LECTURE    VII. 

But,  as  if  to  furnish  the  best  possible  opportunity  for 
this  species  of  proof,  we  have  the  history  of  the  apos- 
tle Paul  stated  fully  and  circumstantially  in  the  Acts ; 
and  then  we  have  thirteen  letters  of  the  same  apostle, 
purporting  to  have  been  written  during  the  period 
covered  by  the  history.  If,  therefore,  the  history  and 
the  letters  are  both  genuine,  w^e  should  expect  to  find 
the  same  general  character  ascribed  to  the  apostle  in 
the  history  that  is  indicated  by  his  letters ;  we  should 
expect  to  find  in  the  letters  numerous  minute  and  un- 
designed references,  such  as  could  not  be  counterfeited, 
to  the  facts  stated  in  the  history.  And  all  this  we  do 
find.  The  character  of  Paul  was  strongly  marked,  and 
no  one  can  doubt  whether  the  Epistles  ascribed  to  him 
were  written  by  such  a  man  as  he  is  described  in  the 
history  to  have  been.  How  different  are  the  charac- 
ters of  Paul,  of  Peter,  and  of  John,  and  yet  how  per- 
fectly do  the  writings  ascribed  to  each  correspond  with 
his  character!  If  the  history  had  given  us  an  account 
of  a  person  hke  John,  and  then  these  letters  had  been 
ascribed  to  him,  how  differently  would  our  evidence 
have  stood  ! 

But  the  argument  from  the  coincidences  between 
the  different  Epistles,  and  between  the  Episdes  and 
the  Acts,  has  been  presented  in  a  full  and  masterly 
mariner  by  Paley,  in  his  Horae  Paulinse,  a  book  to 
which,  so  far  as  I  know,  infidels  have  judged  it  wise 
not  to  attempt  an  answer.  In  this  argument,  Paley 
does  not  notice  those  coincidences  which  are  direct 
and  striking,  and  which  might  have  been  fabricated; 
but  those  which  are  evidently  undesigned,  which  are 
remote  and  circuitous,  and  so  woven  into  the  web  that 
the  supposition  of  art  or  imposture  is  impossible.     This 


LECTURE    VII.  223 

argument  is  best  illustrated  by  examples.  Thus  we 
fmd,  in  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  the  follow- 
ing passage :  "  Even  unto  this  present  hour  we  both 
hunger,  and  thirst,  and  are  naked,  and  are  buffeted, 
and  have  no  eertain  dwelling-place ;  and  labor,  work- 
ing with  our  own  hands."  We  are  expressly  told, 
in  the  history,  that,  at  Corinth,  St.  Paul  labored  with 
his  own  hands :  "He  found  Aquila  and  Priscilla  ; 
and,  because  he  was  of  the  same  craft,  he  abode 
with  them,  and  wrought;  for,  by  their  occupation, 
they  were  tent-makers."  But,  in  the  text  before 
us,  he  is  made  to  say  that  he  labored  "  even  unto 
this  present  hour,"  that  is,  to  the  time  of  writing  the 
Epistle,  at  Ephesus.  Now,  in  the  narration  of  St. 
Paul's  transactions  at  Ephesus,  delivered  in  the  nine- 
teenth chapter  of  the  Acts,  nothing  is  said  of  his 
working  with  his  own  hands  ;  but  in  the  twentieth 
chapter  we  read  that,  upon  his  return  from  Greece,  he 
sent  for  the  elders  of  the  church  at  Ephesus  to  meet 
him  at  Miletus  ;  and,  in  the  discourse  which  he  there 
addressed  to  them,  we  fmd  the  following  :  "  I  have 
coveted  no  man's  silver,  or  gold,  or  apparel ;  yea,  ye 
yourselves  also  know,  that  these  hands  have  ministered 
unto  my  necessities,  and  to  them  that  were  with  me." 
That  manual  labor,  therefore,  which  he  had  exercised 
at  Corinth,  he  continued  at  Ephesus;  and  not  only  so, 
but  continued  it  during  that  particular  residence  at 
Ephesus,  near  the. conclusion  of  which  this  Epistle  was 
written  ;  so  that  he  might,  with  the  strictest  truth,  say, 
at  the  time  of  writing  the  Epistle,  "  even  unto  this 
present  hour,  we  labor,  working  with  our  own  hands." 
"The  correspondency  is  sufficient,  then,  as  to  the  unde- 
signedness  of  it.     It  is  manifest  to  my  judgment  that, 


224  LECTURE  VII. 

if  the  history  in  this  article  had  been  taken  from  the 
Epistle,  this  circumstance,  if  it  appeared  at  all,  would 
have  appeared  in  its  place  —  that  is,  in  the  direct  ac- 
count of  St.  Paul's  transactions  at  Ephesus.  Nor  is  it 
likely,  on  the  other  hand,  that  a  circumstance,  which 
is  not  extant  in  the  history  of  St.  Paul  at  Ephesus, 
should  have  been  made  the  subject  of  a  factitious 
allusion  in  an  Epistle  purporting  to  be  written  by 
him  from  that  place ;  not  to  mention  that  the  allusion 
itself,  especially  as  to  time,  is  too  obUque  and  general 
to  answer  any  purpose  of  forgery  whatever." 

Again ;  we  find,  in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  iii.  8,  "  Neither  did  we  eat  any  man's  bread  for 
nought;  but  wrought  with  labor,  night  and  day,  that 
we  might  not  be  chargeable  to  any  of  you  ;  not  because 
we  have  not  power,  but  to  make  ourselves  an  ensam- 
ple  unto  you  to  follow  us."  Here,  again,  his  conduct 
—  and,  what  is  much  more  precise,  the  end  which  he 
had  in  view  by  it  —  is  the  very  same  which  the  history 
attributes  to  him  in  this  discourse  to  the  elders  of  the 
church  at  Ephesus  ;  for,  after  saying,  "  Yea,  ye  your- 
selves know,  that  these  hands  have  ministered  unto 
my  necessities,  and  to  them  that  were  with  me,"  he 
adds,  "  I  have  showed  you  all  things,  how  that,  so 
laboring,  ye  ought  to  support  the  iceak.''^  "  The  sen- 
timent in  the  Epistle  and  in  the  speech  is,  in  both  parts 
of  it,  so  much  alike,  and  yet  the  words  which  convey 
it  show  so  little  of  imitation,  or  even  of  resemblance, 
that  the  agreement  cannot  well  be  explained  without 
supposing  the  speech  and  the  letter  to  have  really  pro- 
ceeded from  the  same   person." 

Do  we  find  Paul  saying  abruptly,  and  without 
explanation,  to  Timothy,  "  Let  not  a  .widow  be  taken 


LECTURE    VII.  225 

into  the  ivjiiiber  under  threescore  years  old"?  Wc 
also  find,  from  the  Acts,  that  provision  was  made,  from 
the  first,  for  the  indigent  widows  who  belonged  to  the 
Christian  church.  Does  he  say  to  Timothy  that,  from 
a  child,  he  had  known  the  Holy  Scriptures  ?  The  Acts 
t(>ll  us  that  his  mother  was  a  Jewess.  Do  we  hear 
him  exhorting  the  Corinthians  not  to  despise  Timothy? 
We  hear  him  saying  to  Timothy  himself,  "  Let  no  man 
despise  thy  youth  ;  "  and  again,  "  Flee  also  youthful 
lusts."  Does  Paul,  in  the  Epistle  to  Timothy,  refer 
particularly  to  the  afflictions  which  came  unto  him  at 
Antioch,  at  Iconium,  and  at  Lystra  ?  We  find  from 
the  history,  in  the  most  indirect  way  imaginable,  that 
Timothy  must  have  lived  at  one  of  those  cities,  and 
have  been  converted  at  the  time  of  those  persecutions. 
Does  Paul,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  ask  their 
prayers  that  he  might  be  delivered  from  them  that  did 
not  believe,  in  Judea  ?  We  hear  him  saying,  in  the 
Acts,  with  reference  to  the  same  journey,  "  And  now, 
behold,  I  go  bound  in  the  spirit  unto  Jerusalem,  not 
knowing  the  things  that  shall  bcfiill  me  there  ;  save  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  witnesseth  in  every  city,  saying  that 
bonds  and  afflictions  abide  me."  Do  we  hear  him, 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  commending  to  them 
Phoebe,  a  servant  of  the  church  at  Cenchrea  ?  We 
find,  from  the  history,  that  Paul  had  been  at  Cenchrea, 
only  from  the  following  passage  —  "  Having  shorn  his 
head  in  Cenchrea,  for  he  had  a  vow."  Of  such  coin- 
cidences Paley  has  pointed  out,  perhaps,  a  hundred, 
and  he  has  by  no  means  exhausted  the  subject.* 

And    not    only    do    we    find    epistles    directed    to 
churches,  —  the   last  species  of  composition    that  an 


*  Horse  Paulinse,  passim. 
29 


226  LECTURE   VII. 

original  impostor,  whether  we  suppose  that  the  church 
did  or  did  not  exist  at  the  time,  could  have  thought  of 
fabricating,  —  but  we  have,  in  more  than  one  instance, 
two  letters  addressed  to  the  same  church,  the  last 
having  all  that  reference  to  the  first  that  we  should 
expect.  We  find  it  also  directed  that  the  letter  to  one 
church  should  be  read  in  another ;  we  find  it  implied 
that  one  of  the  churches  had  written  to  the  apostle, 
and  his  letter  is  partly  in  reply  to  theirs ;  we  find  such 
points  discussed  as  would  naturally  have  arisen  in 
societies  constituted  as  Christian  churches  must  then 
have  been ;  and,  finally,  we  find  a  strength  of  personal 
feeling,  a  depth  of  tenderness  and  interest,  a  prompt- 
ness in  bestowing  deserved  censure,  a  tone  of  au- 
thority, and  a  fulness  of  commendation,  which  could 
have  sprung  only  from  the  transactions  of  actual  life. 
Am  I  not,  then,  even  from  this  view  of  their  internal 
evidence,  so  briefly  and  imperfectly  presented,  justified 
in  the  assertion  that  no  impostor  either  would,  or  could, 
have  fabricated  these  books  ? 

And  now,  whether  we  look  at  the  relations  which 
Christianity  must  have  sustained  either  to  the  Jews  or 
to  the  Gentiles  ;  at  the  course  pursued  either  by  Christ 
himself  or  by  the  apostles ;  at  the  connection  between 
the  Christian  and  the  Jewish  system ;  or  at  the 
impossibility  of  fabricating  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  —  I  think  we  may  reasonably  conclude 
that  this  religion,  and  these  books,  did  not  originate 
with  man. 


LECTURE   VIII. 


THE   CONDITION,   CHARACTER,  AND   CLAIMS  OF   CHRIST. 

Thus  far,  we  have  attended  to  the  system  of 
Christianity,  to  its  marvellous  adaptations,  and  to  the 
impossibility  that  it  should  have  come  from  man. 
We  now  turn  from  the  system  to  its  Author.  Who 
was  the  author  of  this  system  ?  What  were  his  con- 
dition, his  claims,  and  his  character  ?  We  have  already 
seen  that  the  object  he  proposed,  and  the  system  he 
taugiit,  are  worthy  of  God,  and  correspond  perfectly 
with  the  nature  of  man.  But,  were  his  condition  in 
life,  the  claims  he  preferred,  and  the  character  he 
sustained,  such  as  we  can  now  see  ought  to  have 
belonged  to  one  who  claimed  the  spiritual  headship 
of  the  race  ?  Is  it  possible  that  he  should  have  been 
an  impostor  ?  Do  we  not  find,  meeting  in  him  alone, 
so  many  things  that  are  extraordinary,  as  to  forbid 
that  supposition  ?  These  questions  it  will  be  the 
object   of   the    present   lecture    to    answer. 

And  if  there  is  any  subject  to  which  we  can 
apply,  not  only  the  tests  of  logic,  but  the  decisions  of 
intuitive  reason,  and  of  all  the  higher  instincts  of  our 
common  humanity,  it  is  the  condition  in  life,  and 
teachings,  and  proposed  object,  and  character,  of  one 


228  LECTURE    VIII. 

who  presents  himself  with  the  claims  put  forth  by 
Jesus  Christ.  We  have  an  intuitive  insight  into 
character.  We  have,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  large 
experience  of  it  in  all  its  combinations.  We  are  all 
capable,  when  our  moral  nature  is  quickened,  of  judg- 
ino;  whether  the  character  of  one  who  claims  the 
homage  both  of  the  understanding  and  of  the  heart  is 
in  accordance  with  such  a  claim.  "  I  know  men," 
said  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  "  and  I  tell  you  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  not  a  man."  We  also  know  men ;  and, 
presented  as  Christ  is  to  us  by  the  evangelists,  not 
by  description  or  eulogy,  but  standing  before  us  in 
his  actions  and  discourses,  so  that  he  seems  to  live 
and  to  speak,  we  feel  that  we  can  judge  whether  he 
bore  the  true  insignia  of  his  office  or  the  marks  of 
an  impostor.  If  his  claim  had  been  to  any  thing 
else,  it  would  be  different.  A  claim  to  property,  or  to 
external  homage,  or  to  belief  in  a  particular  case,  may 
be  substantiated  by  external  testimony ;  but  when 
any  being  claims  that  I  should  believe  a  thing  be- 
cause he  says  it ;  when  he  claims  an  affection  from 
me  greater  than  that  which  I  owe  to  father,  or  mother, 
or  brothers,  or  sisters,  or  wife,  or  children,  1  not  only 
do  not,  but  I  cannot,  and  I  ought  not,  to  yield  this 
confidence  and  affection  on  the  ground  of  any  exter- 
nal testimony.  There  must  be  presented  an  object 
of  moral  affection  which  shall  commend  itself  as  wor- 
thy, to  my  immediate  perception,  before  I  can  do  this. 
We  cannot  yield  our  affections  except  to  perceived 
excellence ;  and,  since  no  man  becomes  a  Christian 
who  does  not  make  Christ  himself  an  object  of  affec- 
tion, it  is  plain  that  his  character,  as  well  as  his 
teaching,  is  a  point  of  primary  importance. 


i 


LECTURE    VIII.  229 

And  here,  again,  as  in  every  thing  else,  Christianity 
stands  by  itself.  If  other  systems  are,  to  some  extent, 
vulnerable  through  the  character  of  their  authors,  no 
other  presents  its  very  heart  to  be  thus  pierced.  In 
an  abstract  system  of  philosophy,  we  do  not  incpiiro 
what  the  character  of  its  author  was.  The  truth  of 
the  system  of  Plato,  or  of  Adam  Smith,  or  of  Jeremy 
Bentham,  does  not  depend  on  the  question  whether 
they  were  good  or  bad  men  ;  but  if  it  could  be  shown 
that  Christ  was  a  bad  man,  —  nay,  if  we  were  simply 
to  withdraw  his  character  and  acts,  —  the  whole  system 
would  collapse  at  once.  His  character  stands  as  the 
central  orb  of  the  system,  and  without  it  there  would 
be  no  effectual  light  and  no  heat.  This  arises  from 
two  causes.  The  first  is  the  very  striking  peculiarity, 
—  which,  in  considering  the  evidences,  has  not  been 
enough  noticed,  —  that  the  Author  of  Christianity 
claims,  not  merely  belief,  but  affection.  What  would 
have  been  thought  of  Socrates,  or  Plato,  if  they  had 
not  merely  taught  mankind,  but  if  they  and  their 
disciples  had  set  up  a  claim  that  they  should  be  loved 
by  the  whole  human  race  with  an  affection  exceeding 
that  of  kindred  ?  This  affection  Christ  claimed,  and 
his  disciples  claimed  it  for  him.  Paul  says,  "  If  any 
man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be  anath- 
ema, maranatha,"  making  the  mere  absence  of  the 
love  a  crime.  But  if  he  is  to  be  thus  loved  by  all 
men,  he  must  first  place  himself  in  the  relation  to  them 
of  a  personal  benefactor,  and  then,  by  the  very  laws 
of  affection,  he  must  present  a  character  which  ought 
to  call  forth  their  love.  The  second  cause  why  the 
character  of  Christ  is  so  essential  is,  that  in  the  moral 
and  spiritual  world  power  is  manifested,  and  move- 


230  LECTURE    VIII. 

ment  is  efiected,  only  by  action.  A  moral  system 
must,  indeed,  like  any  thing  else,  be  the  object  of  the 
intellect;  but  no  abstract  system  of  moral  truth,  no 
precepts  merely  enunciated,  but  not  imbodied  and 
manifested  in  actual  life,  could  ever  have  been  the 
means  of  moral  life  to  the  world.  Men  need,  not 
only  truth,  but  life  —  the  truth  and  life  imbodied. 
They  need  a  leader,  some  one  to  go  before  them  as 
the  Captain  of  their  salvation,  whose  voice  they  can 
hear  saying,  "  Follow  me."  While,  therefore,  in  all 
other  systems,  the  character  of  the  founder  is  of  little 
importance,  it  is  vital  here.  But  no  one  can  fail  to 
see  the  infinite  difficulty  and  hazard  of  introducing 
such  an  element  as  this  into  any  system  of  imposture. 
It  opens  a  point  of  attack  against  which  no  such  sys- 
tem could  ever  rear  an  effectual  barrier. 

Let  us,  then,  first,  as  was  proposed,  look  at  the  con- 
dition in  fife*  of  the  Author  of  Christianity,  and  at  the 
suitableness  of  that  condition  to  one  who  was  to  be 
the  teacher  and  spiritual  deliverer  of  man.  And  here 
I  need  hardly  say  that  our  Saviour  was  in  humble 
circumstances,  and  was  entirely  without  property. 
This  fact  we  find  indicated  by  himself  in  the  simplest 
and  most  affecting  manner.  He  did  not  speak  of  it 
in  the  language  of  repining  and  complaint,  nor  yet 
of  stoical  indifference  and  contempt  of  wealth,  but  in 
the  language  of  kindness,  and  to  prevent  disappoint- 
ment  in   one   who   proposed   to  follow   him  without 

*  The  argument  from  this  topic  is  so  similar  to  what  is  said  respect- 
ing it  by  the  author  of  the  "  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation,"  that 
I  think  it  proper  to  say,  that  it  was  copied  almost  literally  from  an 
unpublished  discourse,  delivered  before  the  publication  of  that  work. 


LECTURE    VIII.  231 

understanding  the  true  nature  of  his  kingdom.  He 
had  become  celebrated,  both  as  having  the  power  to 
work  miracles  and  as  a  great  teacher.  Multitudes 
followed  him;  and  a  certain  man,  no  doubt  with  some 
hope  of  worldly  gain,  said  unto  him,  "  Lord,  I  will 
follow  thee  whithersoever  thou  goest.  And  Jesus 
said  unto  him.  Foxes  have  holes,  and  birds  of  the  air 
have  nests  ;  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to 
lay  his  head."  The  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls 
of  heaven  had  places  of  rest  and  shelter;  but  the 
greatest  benefactor  of  men,  when  he  came  to  dwell 
among  them,  had  nothing  that  he  could  call  his  own. 
He  had  no  legal  title  to  any  thing,  no  control  over 
any  thing  which  men  call  property.  And  not  only 
was  he  poor  after  he  commenced  his  ministry,  but 
from  his  early  days.  His  parents  had  no  such  w^eallh 
and  consideration  as  would  piocure  them  a  place  in 
an  inn  in  Bethlehem  when  there  was  a  crowd,  and 
accordingly  he  was  cradled  in  a  manger.  He  was 
early  driven  into  a  strange  country  ;  and  when  he 
returned,  his  parents,  through  fear,  turned  aside  and 
dwelt  in  a  place  where  there  was  neither  wealth 
nor  refinement,  and  which  had  connected  with  it  no 
elevating  associations.  He  was  called  a  Nazarene  by 
way  of  reproach,  and  it  was  asked,  "  Can  any  good 
thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  "  So  poor  were  Joseph 
and  Mary,  that  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  able  to 
give  their  children  the  more  common  advantages  of  edu- 
cation ;  for  it  is  said  that,  when  Christ  read,  the  Jews 
marvelled,  saying,  "  How  knoweth  this  man  letters, 
having  never  learned  ?  "  He  chose  for  his  compan- 
ions poor  and  unlettered  men ;  and  as  he  went  from 
place   to    place,  he  was    supported  —  shall    I   say   by 


232  LECTURE  VIII. 

charity  ?  Yes  ;  but  there  are  two  kinds  of  charity. 
He  was  not  supported  by  that  kind  of  charity  which 
is  drawn  forth  in  view  of  distress,  and  accompanied 
with  pity ;  but,  wherever  he  went,  there  were  those 
who  received  him  in  the  spirit  of  his  mission,  to  whom 
his  words  were  gracious  words,  and  who  esteemed  it 
an  honor  and  a  privilege  to  minister  to  him  of  their 
substance.  Support  flowing  from  such  a  source,  which 
was  but  a  simple  reflection  of  the  spirit  which  he  him- 
self manifested,  he  was  willing  to  receive,  and  did 
receive,  and  never  seems  to  have  had  any  other. 

Such  was  the  condition  in  life  of  the  Author  of 
Christianity,  and  it  was  fit  and  important  that  it 
should  be  so  :  first,  to  show  that  his  kingdom  was 
not  of  this  world,  and  to  prevent  any  from  attaching 
themselves  to  it  from  worldly  motives.  There  is  a 
kingdom  of  matter  governed  by  gravitation  and  the 
laws  of  affinity  ;  there  is  a  kingdom  of  sense  and  of 
sensitive  good,  governed  by  desire  and  by  fear ;  and 
there  is  a  moral  and  spiritual  kingdom.  In  this  king- 
dom the  government  is  by  rational  motives,  by  a  per- 
ception of  right  and  of  wrong,  and  by  moral  love. 
The  motives  by  which  a  man  is  led  to  become  a  sub- 
ject of  this  kingdom  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  any 
thing  material.  The  moment  any  consideration  of 
wealth  or  of  power  comes  in,  to  induce  any  one  to 
enter  into  its  visible  enclosure,  its  very  nature  becomes 
changed.  It  was  of  infinite  importance  that  this  point 
should  be  guarded,  and  in  no  way  could  this  have 
been  done  so  eflectually  as  by  the  humble  condition, 
the  entire  separation,  on  the  part  of  the  Author  of 
Christianity,  from  all  connection  with  wealth  or  with 
power.     Perhaps  such  a  separation  was  even  required 


LECTURE    VIII.  233 

by  consistency,  in  one  who  said  that  his  kingdom  was 
not  of  this  world. 

Secondly,  such  a  condition  was  necessary  to  the 
personal  dignity  of  Christ  as  the  head  of  a  spiritual 
kingdom,  and  to  the  highest  evidence  of  the  reality  of 
such  a  kingdom.  If  Christ  was  what  he  claimed  to 
be,  he  could  not  receive  title-deeds  from  men.  He 
came  out  from  God  on  a  great  mission,  as  the  ambas- 
sador of  an  infinite  and  an  eternal  kingdom  ;  and  it 
would  not  only  have  interfered  with  that  mission  in  its 
spirit,  but  would  have  debased  and  degraded  it  beyond 
expression,  if  he  had  shown  any  regard  for  wealth,  or 
had  had  any  thing  to  do  with  the  i)etty  strifes  of  men 
for  temporary  power.  Moreover,  it  could  not  other- 
wise have  appeared  that  his  true  kingdom  could  stand 
by  itself,  and  that  it  needed  none  of  those  attractions 
and  supports  at  which  alone  men  are  accustomed  to 
look.  If  Christ  had  possessed  either  wealth  or  power, 
I  should  feel  that  I  w^as  conducting  this  argument 
at  an  immense  disadvantage. 

Thirdly,  such  a  condition  was  necessary,  not  only 
that  he  mi^ht  show  his  own  estimate  of  wealth  and 
power,  but  that  he  might  lead  his  followers  to  a  right 
view,  and  a  right  spirit,  concerning  them,  and  concern- 
ing the  distinctions  which  they  bring.  They  are 
external  to  the  spirit.  They  have  nothing  to  do  with 
that  state  of  it  in  which  character  consists,  and  on 
which  its  true  dignity  and  happiness  must  depend. 
Christ  came  to  prepare  men  for  a  kingdom  where 
neither  property  nor  wealth  exists  as  an  element  of 
enjoyment,  but  where  all  things  will  be  as  the  air 
and  the  sunlight ;  and  where,  if  intellectual  and  moral 
beings  differ,  it  will  be  only  as  one  star  diflters  from 

30 


234  LECTURE    VIll. 

another  star  in  glory.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  that 
any  one  who  truly  sympathizes  with  the  spirit  of 
Christ  should  have  that  selfish  and  idolatrous  attach- 
ment to  them  which  has  been  the  cause  of  so  much 
disorder  and  unhappiness  among  men. 

And,  once  more  ;  this  condition  of  Christ  was  requi- 
site to  show  the  true  worth  ajid  dignity  of  man  as 
man.  In  a  world  where  respect  for  man  as  an  im- 
mortal being,  in  the  image  of  God,  had  so  far  given 
place  to  respect  for  wealth  and  rank,  it  was  of  the  first 
importance  that  a  spiritual  teacher  should  himself 
stand  in  the  simple  grandeur  of  a  true  and  perfect 
manhood.  By  doing  this,  Christ  furnished  to  the  poor 
in  all  ages,  many  of  whom  were  to  be  his  disciples, 
a  model,  and  a  ground  of  self-respect ;  and  he  made 
it  impossible  that  there  should  not  be,  wherever  the 
spirit  of  his  religion  prevails,  a  true  respect  for  every 
human  being.  With  that  estimate  of  man,  or,  if  you 
please,  of  men,  which  ministers  to  the  pride  of  talent, 
or  of  wealth,  or  of  power,  he  had  no  sympathy.  He 
looked  at  man  as  a  spirit,  at  all  men  as  standing  upon 
the  same  level  of  immortality ;  and  his  teachings, 
his  labors,  and  his  sufferings,  w^ere  equally  for  all. 
Who  can  see  the  humble  walks  of  life  thus  trodden, 
and  not  feel  that  the  race  is  one  brotherhood,  and  not 
be  ready  to  give  the  hand  of  fellowship,  of  sympathy, 
and  of  aid,  to  every  one  whom  Christ  thus  represented, 
and  for  whom  he  thus  cared  ? 

Strange,  then,  and  offensive  as  it  was  at  the  first, 
as  it  always  has  been  to  many,  it  must  yet  be  admit- 
ted that,  if  Christ  was  to  be  a  spiritual  deliverer,  to 
eradicate  pride  and  selfishness,  and  to  unite  all  men  in 
one  brotherhood,  it  was  essential  that  he  should  appear 


LECTURE    VIU.  235 

in   the    very  circumstances    and  condition    of   life    in 
whicli  he  did  appear. 

We  next  inquire  what  were  the  claims  of  this  man, — 
so  humble  in  his  condition  ;  so  lowly ;  so  destitute  of 
learning,  of  wealth,  of  influential  friends  ;  whose  public 
ministry  but  little  exceeded  three  years,  and  was  ter- 
minated by  crucifixion.  In  general,  he  claimed  to  be 
the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  men. 
As  I  wish  to  avoid  here  all  disputed  points,  I  shall  not 
move  the  great  question  whether  he  claimed  to  be  a 
truly  divine  person,  or  to  be  "  the  Lamb  of  God,  that 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  w^orld,"  in  the  sense  of 
making  an  atonement,  but  shall  observe,  — 

1.  That  he  claimed  to  be  a  perfect  teacher; 

2.  To  set  a  perfect  example ;  to  be  the  model  man 
of  the  race ; 

3.  To  be  a  perfectly  sinless  being; 

4.  That  all  men  should  love  and  obey  him ; 

5.  To  work  miracles  as  no  other  man  ever  did ; 

6.  That  in  him  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment were  fulfilled ; 

7.  That  he  would  himself  rise  from  the  dead  ; 

8.  To  be  the  final  Judge  of  the  world. 

Such  were  his  claims  —  claims  till  then  unprece- 
dented, unheard  of,  undreamed  of,  by  the  wildest  and 
most  extravagant  imagination. 

Let  us  next  see,  so  far  as  we  have  the  means  of 
determining,  how  he  sustained  these  claims.  In  doing 
this,  we  shall,  of  necessity,  as  was  proposed,  consider 
his  character. 

And  here,  before  saying  any  thing  under  the  par- 


236  LECTURE    VIII. 

ticular  heads  specified,  I  shall  enrich  this  lecture  with 
three  general  remarks  from  one  whose  eloquent  voice 
will  long  echo  in  the  public  halls  of  this  city.  "  We 
are  immediately  struck,"  says  Dr.  Channing,  in  his 
Dudleian  lecture,  "  with  this  peculiarity  in  the  Author 
of  Christianity,  —  that  whilst  all  other  men  are  formed 
in  a  measure  by  the  spirit  of  the  age,  we  can  discover 
in  Jesus  no  impression  of  the  period  in  which  he  lived. 
We  know,  with  considerable  accuracy,  the  state  of 
society,  the  modes  of  thinking,  the  hopes  and  ex- 
pectations, of  the  country  in  which  Jesus  was  born 
and  grew  up ;  and  he  is  as  free  from  them  as  if  he 
had  lived  in  another  world,  or  with  every  sense  shut 
on  the  objects  around  him.  His  character  has  in  it 
nothing  local  or  temporary.  It  can  be  explained  by 
nothing  around  him.  His  history  shows  him  to  us  a 
solitary  being,  living  for  purposes  which  none  but  him- 
self comprehended,  and  enjoying  not  so  much  as  the 
sympathy  of  a  single  mind.  His  apostles,  his  chosen 
companions,  brought  to  him  the  spirit  of  the  age  ;  and 
nothing  shows  its  strength  more  strikingly  than  the 
slowness  with  which  it  yielded,  in  these  honest  men, 
to  the  instructions  of  Jesus." 

Again ;  *'One  striking  peculiarity  in  Jesus  is  the  ex- 
tent and  vastness  of  his  views.  Whilst  all  around  him 
looked  for  a  Messiah  to  liberate  God's  ancient  people, — 
whilst,  to  every  other  Jew,  Judea  was  the  exclusive 
object  of  pride  and  hope, — Jesus  came,  declaring  him- 
self to  be  the  deliverer  and  light  of  the  world;  and  in  his 
whole  teaching  and  life  you  see  a  consciousness,  which 
never  forsakes  him,  of  a  relation  to  the  whole  human 
race.  This  idea  of  blessing  mankind,  of  spreading  a 
universal  religion,  was  the  most  magnificent  which  had 


LECTURE    VIII.  237 

ever  entered  man's  mind.  All  previous  religions  had 
been  given  to  particular  nations.  No  conqueror,  legis- 
lator, philosopher,  in  the  extravagance  of  ambition,  had 
ever  dreamed  of  subjecting  all  nations  to  a  common 
faith." 

Once  more ;  he  says,  "  I  cannot  but  add  another 
striking  circumstance  in  Jesus,  and  that  is,  the  calm 
confidence  with  which  he  always  looked  forward  to  the 
accomplishment  of  his  design.  He  fully  knew  the 
strength  of  the  passions  and  powers  which  were  arrayed 
against  him,  and  was  perfectly  aware  that  his  life  was 
to  be  shortened  by  violence ;  yet  not  a  word  escapes 
him  implying  a  doubt  of  the  ultimate  triumphs  of  his 
rehgion.  *  *  *  This  entire  and  patient  relinquishment 
of  immediate  success,  this  ever-present  persuasion  that 
he  was  to  perish  before  his  religion  would  advance, 
and  this  calm,  unshaken  anticipation  of  distant  and  un- 
bounded triumphs,  are  remarkable  traits,  throwing  a 
tender  and  solemn  grandeur  over  our  Lord,  and  wholly 
inexplicable  by  human  principles,  or  by  the  circum- 
stances in  which  he  was  placed !  " 

I  now  proceed  to  observe,  1 .  That,  under  that  general 
claim  to  which  these  remarks  apply,  Christ  claimed  to 
be  a  perfect  teacher  —  to  be  not  only  a  light,  but  the 
light  of  the  world.  And  who  can  point  out  any  defect 
in  his  teaching,  either  in  respect  to  matter  or  to  man- 
ner ?  As  a  teacher  of  religion,  he  set  before  us,  in  the 
matter  of  his  teaching,  the  paternal  and  the  holy  char- 
acter of  God,  and  taught  us  to  love  him,  and  to  wor- 
ship him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  It  is  evidently  impos- 
sible that  we  should  have  a  higher  conception  of  God 
in   any  of  his  attributes,  or  of  his  worship,  than  he 


238  LECTURE    VIII. 

communicated.  In  the  same  character,  he  taught  us 
the  great  doctrines  of  a  perfect  human  accountability, 
of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  and  of  the  final  reward  of  the  righteous  and 
punishment  of  the  wicked.  As  a  teacher  of  morality, 
he  introduced  a  system,  the  great  characteristics  of 
which  are,  1.  That  it  establishes  a  perfect  standard. 
2.  That  it  takes  cognizance  of  the  heart.  3.  That 
it  forbids  all  the  malevolent  and  dissocial  passions. 
4.  That  it  forbids  all  merely  selfish  passions,  as  vanity 
and  pride.  5.  That  it  forbids  all  impure  passions. 
6.  That  it  includes  all  its  positive  duties  under  the 
two  great  requisitions  of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man, 
which  all  moralists  now  agree  is  the  sum  of  human 
duty.  If  we  look  at  man  as  a  practical  being,  what 
point  is  there  on  which  Christ  did  not  shed  light 
enough  to  lead  him,  if  he  will  but  follow  his  instruc- 
tions, to  his  true  happiness,  whether  in  this  world  or 
the  world  to  come  ? 

Nor  was  the  manner  of  his  teaching  less  extraordi- 
nary. He  taught  them  as  one  having  authority,  and 
not  as  the  scribes,  or  as  the  philosophers  who  ran  into 
subtile  distinctions,  and  deduced  every  thing  from  the 
nature  of  things.  In  opposition  to  all  the  learning, 
and  authority,  and  prejudices,  of  his  age  and  nation,  he 
simply  said,  "  Verily  /  say  unto  you."  He  spoke  with 
the  calmness,  and  dignity,  and  decision,  of  one  who 
bore  credentials  that  challenged  entire  deference.  But, 
if  his  manner  was  authoritative,  it  was  also  gentle  and 
condescending ;  if  it  was  dignified,  it  was  also  kind  ; 
if  it  was  calm,  it  was  also  earnest.  While  his  instruc- 
tions were  the  most  elevated  that  were  ever  uttered, 
they  were  uttered  with  such  plainness,  were  so  clothed 


LECTURE   VIII.  239 

in  parables,  and  illustrated  by  common  objects,  that  they 
were  also  the  most  intelligible.  Nothing  can  exceed, 
nothing  ever  equalled,  in  depth  and  weight,  some  of  his 
disclosures  and  parables;  and  yet  they  are  simple  and 
beautiful,  "  are  adapted  to  the  habits  of  thinking  of 
the  poor,  are  opened  and  expanded  to  their  capacities, 
separated  from  points  of  difliculty  and  abstraction,  and 
presented  only  in  the  aspect  which  regarded  their  duty 
and  hopes."  *  The  most  exalted  intellect  cannot  ex- 
haust his  instructions,  and  yet  they  are  adapted  to  the 
feeblest.  "Never  man  spake  like  this  man."  No 
teacher  ever  so  combined  authority  and  condescension, 
dignity  and  gentleness,  zeal  and  discretion,  sublimity 
and  plainness,  weight  of  matter  and  a  facility  of  com- 
prehension by  all. 

2.  But  if  the  claim  to  be  a  perfect  teacher  was  so 
high,  far  higher  was  that  to  set  a  perfect  example,  and 
to  stand  before  the  world  as  the  model  man. 

In  every  practical  science,  a  perfect  system  of  in- 
struction must  include  both  precept  and  example.  If 
God  was  to  institute  a  perfect  system  for  the  instruc- 
tion and  elevation  of  man,  both  as  a  speculative  and  a 
practical  being,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  not 
only  give  him  perfect  precepts,  but  that  he  should  cause 
a  perfect  example  to  be  set  before  him.  The  consti- 
tution of  man  requires  this.  He  is,  and  must  be,  more 
atfected  by  example  than  by  precept.  Even  in  the 
exact  sciences,  when  a  rule  is  given,  though  it  really 
covers  every  possible  case,  it  is  yet  .necessary  to  give 
examples  to  show  practically  its  application.  Much 
more  must  this  be  needed  in  the  ever-varying  adjust- 
ments of  moral  relations.     A  great  example  will  speak, 

*  Wilson. 


240  LECTURE    VIII. 

though  silently,  yet  powerfully,  to  the  sympathetic  feel- 
ings, and  will  aid  the  imagination  in  giving  direction 
and  definiteness  to  its  ideas  of  perfection. 

And  here  we  find  one  great  adaptation  of  the 
Christian  system  to  the  moral  condition  and  wants 
of  man,  which  is  not  even  attempted  in  any  other. 
It  is  one  on  which  I  did  not  dwell  when  on  the  subject 
of  adaptations,  because  I  intended  to  speak  of  it  here. 
The  Author  of  Christianity,  in  claiming  to  give  such 
an  example,  at  least  showed  his  knowledge  of  what  a 
perfect  system  required ;  and  if  he  has  done  it,  he  has 
not  only  done  what  unassisted  man  could  not  do,  but 
what  I  am  inclined  to  think  he  could  not  even  con- 
ceive of.  It  was  not  in  the  power  of  man  to  form 
a  conception  of  the  character  of  Christ  before  he 
appeared.  It  is  one  thing  to  recognize  a  perfect 
character  as  such,  when  it  is  presented,  and  quite 
another  so  to  combine  the  qualities  as  to  form  such  a 
character,  and  to  manifest  it  in  action.  It  is  at  this 
point  that  we  find  all  the  difference  between  the  com- 
mon power  of  judging  of  the  productions  of  genius  in 
the  fine  arts,  and  of  producing  models  of  excellence  in 
those  arts ;  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that,  as  a 
work  of  art,  a  product  of  genius,  simply,  the  exhibition 
in  life  of  a  perfect  model  of  human  nature  would  be 
the  highest  conceivable  attainment.  That  man  has 
genius  who  can  imbody  the  perfection  of  material 
forms  in  his  imagination,  and  cause  those  forms  to  live 
before  us  in  the.  marble,  on  the  canvass,  or  on  the 
printed  page  ;  and  he  has  higher  genius  still  who  can 
arrange  the  elements  of  character  into  new  yet  natural 
combinations,  and  cause  his  personages,  as  organized 
and  consistent  wholes,  to  speak  and  act  before  us.     In 


LECTURE    VIII.  241 

all  these  cases,  when  Michael  Angelo  produces  a 
statue,  or  Allston  a  painthig,  or  Milton  a  landscape,  or 
Shakspcare  a  character,  we  can  Judge  of  it,  though 
we  could  not  have  made  that  combination.  It  is, 
indeed,  the  great  prerogative  of  genius  to  produce 
thoughts,  and  forms,  and  characters,  and  I  will  add 
here  actions,  of  which  other  men  recognize  the  excel- 
lence, but  which  thev  could  not  have  produced.  Yes, 
1  add  actions ;  for  if  the  conception  and  delineation  of 
an  original  course  of  action  require  genius,  it  must  be 
equally  required,  and  in  combination  too  with  high 
practical  qualities,  to  realize  that  same  conception  in  the 
bolder  relief  of  actual  life.  The  power  to  act  thus  does 
not  always,  perhaps  not  generally,  involve  the  power 
of  delineation,  but  it  does  involve  the  very  highest  form 
of  genius,  and  something  more  ;  and  it  is  only  because 
there  is  genius,  that  expresses  itself  in  great  action,  that 
that  of  delineation  has  either  dignity  or  worth. 

Now,  as  the  highest  effort  of  genius  in  statuary 
would  be  to  produce  a  perfect  human  form,  one  of 
which  it  might  be  said  that,  tlwugh  no  form  in  nature 
ever  equalled  it,  yet  that  every  form  was  perfect  in 
proportion  as  it  approximated  towards  it,  so  it  would 
be  the  highest  conceivable  effort  of  genius,  involving  its 
most  complex  elements,  to  present,  as  an  organized  and 
consistent  whole,  and  to  cause  to  speak  and  act  before 
us  in  all  the  diversified  relations  of  life,  a  perfect 
human  being,  —  one  of  whom  it  might  be  said  that, 
though  no  other  ever  manifested  the  same  excellence, 
yet  that  all  others  were  excellent  in  proportion  as 
they  approximated  towards  him.  Philosopher,  man  of 
genius  and  of  taste,  here  is  a  task  for  you.  We  chal- 
lenge you  to  it.     Would  you,  could  you,  not  merely  de- 


31 


242  LECTURE    VIII. 

scribe  in  general  terms,  but  present  in  detail,  the  words 
and  actions  even  of  a  consistent  and  perfect  piety  ?  No. 
1  ou  would  not,  and  you  could  not.  Attempts  had  often 
been  made  to  portray  a  model  character,  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  it  was  within  the  power  of  human  genius ; 
and  when  the  majestic,  the  simple,  the  beautiful,  the 
perfect  character  of  Christ  appeared,  it  was  seen  how 
poor  those  attempts  had  been.  Certainly,  applying  the 
most  philosophical  tests,  if  the  evangelists  did  invent 
this  character,  they  manifested  higher  genius  than  any 
other  men  that  ever  lived.  But  if  the  bare  repre- 
sentation of  such  a  character  would  be  so  difhcult,  who 
could  have  thought  of  really  being  such  a  person,  of 
expressing  it  in  life  and  action  ? 

Now,  the  question  whether  the  true  model  of 
humanity  has  been  really  thus  presented,  is  one,  to  my 
mind,  not  only  of  religious,  but  of  the  deepest  philo- 
sophical interest.  If  mankind  are  ever  to  advance 
intelligently  in  excellence,  they  must  have  the  true 
model  before  them.  There  can  be  no  true  progress, 
either  of  individuals  or. of  society,  without  this.  The 
greatest  amount  of  human  activity,  hitherto,  has  had 
no  tendency  to  advance  the  cause  of  humanity,  and  it 
never  can  have  till  men  adopt  a  right  model,  and 
seek  to  conform  themselves  to  that.  To  conform  our- 
selves to  such  a  model,  we  do  aspire  in  our  better 
moments.  Is  there  one  here  who  has  not  felt  the 
stirrings  within  him  of  something  that  would  lead  him 
to  take  hold  on  this  ?  Wherever  there  is  any  thing 
truly  elevated  in  human  nature,  it  is  this  that  it  seeks 
for ;  it  is  this  that,  in  its  blindness  and  moral  ruin,  it 
still  gropes  after;  it  is  this  respecting  which  many, 
very  many,  when  they  have   beheld   the   character  of 


LECTURE    VIII.  243 

Christ,  liave  exclaimed,  with  a  deeper  joj  than  that  of 
the  philosopher,  "Eureka,  Eureka!  "  —  I  have  found  it, 
I  have  found  it ! 

Yes,  we  do  claim  that  this  model  was  presented,  as 
a  part  of  the  system  of  Christianity,  in  the  character 
of  Christ ;  this  deep  want  of  human  nature,  we  say 
that  he  has  supplied.  The  more  we  look  at  the  char- 
acter of  Christ,  the  more  we  shall  be  satisfied  that  there 
is  there  presented  what  w'e  seek  —  the  more  ready 
shall  we  be  to  exclaim,  "  Who  is  this  that  cometh 
up  *  *  *  travelling  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength?" 
It  is  obviously  not  every  part  of  his  life  that  was 
intended  to  be  an  example  to  man,  but  only  that  in 
w^iich  he  stood  in  the  relations  common  to  men,  in 
which  he  moved  and  walked  as  one  of  them.  And 
he  did  move  and  mingle  freely  with  men  of  all  classes 
and  of  all  conditions.  He  was  placed  not  only  in  such 
a  condition  in  life,  but  in  so  many  situations — he  came 
into  collision  with  human  passion  and  interest  in  so 
many  ways  —  as  most  fully  to  test  his  character  and 
make  him  an  example  to  all.  At  this  example  we 
will   brieflv  look. 

I  observe,  then,  first,  that  his  piety  was  most  exem- 
plary.* On  all  occasions  he  acknowledged  God,  and 
always  did  those  things  that  pleased  him.  He  con- 
formed to  the  ceremonial  law.  He  expounded  the 
Scriptures,  and  honored  them  as  the  word  of  God.  He 
attended  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath.  There  are 
indications  that  he  was  in  constant  habits  of  devotion, 
and  on  all  solemn  occasions  he  prayed.  "It  is  record- 
ed of  him,  on  no  less  than  six  occasions,  that  he  gave 

•  On  this  whole  subject,  see  Archbishop    Newcome''s   "  Observations 
on  our  Lord." 


244  LECTURE   VIll. 

thanks  to  God  on  partaking  and  distributing  food." 
When  he  was  baptized,  he  prayed.  Before  he  chose 
his  twelve  disciples,  he  went  out  into  a  mountain  to 
pray.  When  he  had  wrought  a  great  number  of  cures 
publicly  for  the  first  time,  he  "  rose  up  a  great  while 
before  it  was  day,  and  went  into  a  desert  place,  and 
prayed."  When  many  came  together  to  hear  him,  and 
to  be  cured  of  their  infirmities,  he  retired  into  desert 
places,  and  prayed.  When  he  had  fed  five  thousand 
with  five  loaves  and  two  fishes,  he  dismissed  the  mul- 
titudes, and  went  up  into  a  mountain  apart,  to  pray. 
On  one  occasion,  he  continued  all  night  in  prayer. 
He  prayed  for  Peter.  He  praj^ed,  if  it  may  be  called 
prayer,  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus.  He  prayed  at  the  close 
of  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  supper.  He  prayed  in 
his  agony.  He  prayed  on  the  cross.  He  taught  his 
disciples  to  pray,  and  gave  them  that  form  of  which 
Paley  says  that,  "  For  a  succession  of  solemn  thoughts, 
for  fixing  the  attention  upon  a  few  great  points,  for 
suitableness  to  every  condition,  for  sufficiency,  for 
conciseness  without  obscurity,  for  the  weight  and  real 
importance  of  its  petitions,  it  is  without  a  rival."  In 
all  things  he  had  reference  to  the  will  of  God,  so  that 
he  could  say  that  it  was  his  meat  to  do  his  will.  The 
doing  of  God's  will  perfectly  was  evidently  the  great 
element  in  which  he  lived.  And  this  piety  was  a  ra- 
tional piety,  without  any  tinge  of  mysticism,  or  gloom, 
or  fanaticism,  or  extravagance.     For, 

Secondly,  it  was  equalled  only  by  his  benevolence. 
Of  this  it  cannot  be  necessary  that  I  should  adduce 
particular  instances.  His  whole  history,  in  this  re- 
spect, is  comprised  in  five  words — "He  went  about 
doing    good."     All    his   acts   were    entirely  unselfish. 


LECTURE    VITI.  245 

He  never  refused  to  relieve  the  distress  of  any,  but 
never  used  his  miraculous  powers  for  his  own  benefit, 
or  to  gain  applause.  His  benevolence  was  universal, 
embracing,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  s])irit  of  his  age 
and  nation,  not  only  the  Jews,  but  the  Samaritans 
and  the  Gentiles.  His  benevolence  rose  superior  to 
injuries.  He  neither  reviled,  nor  complained,  nor 
ceased  from  his  labors  and  sufferings  for  the  good  of 
men,  when  he  was  the  most  cruelly  treated. 

And  not  only  was  he  benevolent,  but  compassionate. 
He  had  compassion  on  the  multitude  when  they  were 
hungry  and  faint.  He  \vept  over  Jerusalem.  He 
was  full  of  sympathy.  When  he  saw  Mary  weep- 
ing, and  the  Jews  also  weeping  who  came  with 
her,  "Jesus  wept."  He  was  full  of  gentleness  and 
condescension,  taking  up  little  children  in  his  arms 
and  blessing  them  ;  and  yet  he  was  fearless  and  ter- 
rible in  his  reproofs  of  iniquity  in  high  places.  He 
"  came  eating  and  drinking,"  and  was  free  from  all 
austerity;  and  yet  he  was  "pure  in  spirit."  He 
had  great  meekness  and  lowliness,  in  union  with  an 
evident  consciousness  of  the  highest  dignity.  He 
washed  his  disciples'  feet,  at  the  same  time  that  he 
told  them  that  he  was  their  JiOrd  and  Master.  He 
was  not  elated  by  popularity,  nor  depressed  when  his 
followers  deserted  him.  He  had  a  zeal  wiiich  led  his 
friends  to  say  he  was  beside  himself;  and  yet  his  pru- 
dence, as  shown  by  his  answers  to  those  who  would 
entrap  him,  was  equal  to  his  zeal.  Nor  was  his  zeal 
indiscriminate ;  for,  while  he  insisted  on  the  silent 
worship  which  is  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  he  yet  gave 
their  })roper  place  to  external  observances,  even  to  the 
titliing  of  mint,  and  he  rebuked  zeal  in  his  own  cause, 


246  LECTURE   yiii. 

when  it  did  not  proceed  from  a  pure  motive.  He  was 
keenly  sensible  to  suffering,. and  yet  he  bore  it  without 
murmuring.  He  was  subject  to  his  parents  in  early 
life,  and  remembered  his  mother  on  the  cross.  There 
is  no  virtue  which  he  did  not  exemplify,  and  man  can 
be  placed  in  no  situation  in  which  his  example  will  not 
be  applicable.  But,  to  sum  up  what  has  been  said  of 
the  example  of  Christ,  it  has  often  seemed  to  me  re- 
markable that  he  should  have  been  brought  into  such 
positions  as  to  try,  in  the  highest  possible  manner,  both 
his  piety  and  his  benevolence,  and  to  lead  him  to  give 
of  each  of  these  the  highest  possible  example.  No 
doubt  this  was  so  ordered  of  God.  The  two  great 
principles  of  conduct,  which  men  need  to  have  con- 
stantly set  before  them,  are  love  and  submission  to 
God,  and  benevolence  to  men.  And  did  not  he  man- 
ifest a  perfect  love  and  submission  to  God,  who  could 
say,  in  the  prospect  of  his  dreadful  sufferings,  and  in 
the  hour  of  his  agony,  "  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be 
done  "  ?  Did  not  he  love  others  as  himself,  and  ex- 
emplify his  own  most  difficult  precept  of  forgiving 
injuries,  who  prayed  for  his  murderers  on  the  cross  ? 
"  Behold  the  man  !  " 

And  here  I  would  observe,  that  I  do  not  regard  the 
setting  of  a  perfect  example,  in  every  thing  that  may 
strictly  be  called  a  duty,  as  comprising  every  thing 
that  should  belong  to  a  perfect  humanity.  A  perfect 
humanity  implies  a  sensibility,  a  refinement,  a  grace, 
a  beauty  of  character,  which  cannot  be  said  to  be 
required  by  duty.  And  all  these  the  Saviour  had  in 
the  highest  degree.  There  was  no  pure  and  exqui- 
site emotion  of  human  nature  to  which  he  was  not 
keenly  alive  ;  and  it  is  the  union,  in  him,  of  every  thing 


LECTURE    VIII.  247 

that  is  tender  and  gentle  with  those  higher  and  stern- 
er quahties,  whieh  renders  him  a  fit  exani])le,  not  for 
man  only,  but  for  woman.  How  just  and  perfect 
must  have  been  his  perception  of  the  beauties  of  na- 
ture, who  could  say  of  the  lilies  of  the  field,  that  Solo- 
mon, in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these  ! 
In  all  the  attitudes  in  which  Christ  was  placed,  in 
all  the  words  that  he  uttered,  there  is  nothing  un- 
seemly, or  offensive  to  a  just  taste.  His  suscepti- 
bilities to  both  joy  and  suffering  were  intense.  He 
rejoiced  in  spirit,  and  his  joy  instantly  burst  forth  in 
devout  thanksgiving.  He  was  prone  to  compassion, 
and  repeatedly  melted  into  tears.  The  innocence  of 
children  engaged  his  affection.  His  heart  was  open 
to  impressions  of  friendship.  "  .Jesus  loved  Martha, 
and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus."  He  had  a  beloved 
disciple.  When  he  saw  an  amiable  young  man,  he 
loved  him.  He  was  grieved  at  unbelief,  and  had  a 
generous  indig;nation  against  vice. 

In  all  these  respects  —  in  his  piety,  in  his  benevo- 
lence and  other  virtues,  in  the  refinement  and  delicacy 
of  his  character — he  is  a  suitable  example  for  us.  But, 
as  difficult  as  it  must  have  been  to  present  in  action 
this  combination  of  human  excellences,  it  must  have 
been  much  more  so  to  combine  with  them  those  qual- 
ities, and  that  deportment,  which  were  appropriate  to 
him  as  the  Messiah  and  Saviour  of  the  world.  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  he  who  claimed  to  be  greater  than  Solomon, 
to  command  legions  of  angels,  to  raise  the  dead, — 
who  spoke  of  himself  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  as  the 
final  Judge  of  thew^orld,  —  should  so  move,  and  speak, 
and  act,  as  to  sustain  a  character  compatible  with 
these  high  pretensions,  and  yet  have  the  condescension, 


248  LECTURE    VIII. 

and  gentleness,  and  meekness,  of  Christ  ?  And  yet 
such  is  the  character  presented  by  the  evangelists. 
There  is  no  break,  no  incongruity.  Like  his  own 
seamless  garment,  the  character  is  one.  He  seems 
to  combine,  with  perfect  ease,  these  elements,  appa- 
rently so  incompatible.  This,  I  confess,  excites  my 
astonishment.  The  presentation  of  a  perfect  man- 
hood in  a  lowly  station  had  been  beyond  the  power 
of  human  genius  ;  but  when  this  is  combined  with 
the  proprieties  and  requisitions  of  a  public  charac- 
ter, and  an  office  so  exalted  as  that  of  the  Messiah 
and  the  Judge  of  the  world,  then  I  have  an  intuitive 
conviction  that  I  stand  in  the  presence  of  no  human 
invention  ;  then  this  character  presents  itself  to  me 
with  the  grandeur  and  wonder  that  belong  to  the 
great  mountains  and  the  starry  heavens. 

Is  there  an  infidel  who  hears  me,  and  who  says 
that  these  impressions  are  made  on  a  mind  predis- 
posed to  receive  them,  and  that  they  are  not  those 
which  would  legitimately  be  made  ? — let  him  hear  what 
one  of  his  own  prophets  has  said.  "  I  confess,"  saj's 
Rousseau,*  "  that  the  majesty  of  the  Scriptures  aston- 
ishes me  ;  that  the  sanctity  of  the  gospel  speaks  to 
my  heart.  View  the  books  of  the  philosophers,  —  with 
all  their  pomp,  what  a  littleness  have  they  when  com- 
pared with  this  !  Is  it  possible  that  a  book  at  once 
so  sublime  and  simple  should  be  the  work  of  men  ? 
Is  it  possible  that  he  whose  history  it  records  should 
be  himself  a  mere  man  ?  Is  this  the  style  of  an  en- 
thusiast, or  of  an  ambitious  sectary  ?  What  sweet- 
ness,  what   purity,  in    his   manners !    what   affecting 

*  Emile,  as  translated  by  Newcome. 


LECTURE    VIII.  249 

grace  in  his  instructions !  \vh:it  elevation  in  his  max- 
ims !  what  profound  wisdom  in  liis  discourses  !  ^^•hat 
presence  of  mind,  what  delicacy,  and  what  justness,  in 
his  replies  !  what  empire  over  his  passions  !  Where 
is  the  man,  where  is  the  pliiloso])her,  who  knows  how 
to   act,  to  suffer,   and   to  die,  without   weakness   and 

without  ostentation  ?*    Where  could  Jesus  have 

taken,  among  his  countrymen,  that  elevated  and  pure 
morality  of  which  he  alone  furnished  both  the  precept 
and  the  example  ?  The  most  lofty  wisdom  was  heard 
from  the  bosom  of  the  most  furious  fanaticism ;  and 
the  simplicity  of  the  most  heroic  virtues  honored  the 
vilest  of  all  people.  The  death  of  Socrates,  serenely 
philosophizing  with  his  friends,  is  the  most  gentle  that 
one  can  desire ;  that  of  Jesus,  expiring  in  torments, 
injured,  derided,  reviled  by  a  whole  people,  is  the 
most  horrible  that  one  can  fear.  When  Socrates  takes 
the  poisoned  cup,  he  blesses  him  who  presents  it,  and 
who  at  the  same  time  weeps  ;  Jesus,  in  the  midst  of 
a  horrid  punishment,  prays  for  his  enraged  execution- 
ers. Yes  ;  if  the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  are  those 
of  a  philosopher,  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ 
are  those  of  a  God." 

3.  According  to  the  idea  of  many,  the  claim  to  set 
a  perfect  example  involves  the  claim  to  be  perfectly 
sinless.  But,  in  some  respects,  the  claim  to  be  sinless 
involves  more  than  the  claim  to  exhibit  a  perfect  model 
of  humanity,  since  this  exhibition  respects  an  outward 
manifestation ;  and  who  can  say  that  it  may  not  be 

*  Part  of  this  passage  is  here  omitted.     I  wish  to  add  the  following: 
"What  prejudices,  what   blindness,  must  they  have,  wlio  dare  to  draw 
a  comparison   between  the  son  of  Sophroniscus  and   the  son  of  Mary  ! 
What  distance  is  there  between  the  one  and  tlie  otlier!" 
32 


250  LECTURE    VIII. 

compatible  with  some  wrong  feeling  or  affection  ? 
And,  in  some  respects  again,  the  claim  to  be  a  model 
man  is  more  extensive  than  that  to  be  perfectly  sinless. 
A  human  being  might  be  sinless,  and  be  destitute  of 
many  of  the  perfections  of  the  character  of  Christ. 
And  then,  again,  these  claims  look  in  such  different 
directions,  and  respect  such  entirely  different  objects, 
that  there  is  a  propriety  in  considering  them  apart. 
The  claim  to  present  a  perfect  manhood  has  respect  to 
the  wants  of  man  ;  the  claim  to  be  sinless  has  respect 
to  the  relations  of  the  individual  to  God,  and  to  his 
fitness  to  be  a  Redeemer  from  sin.  It  must,  I  think, 
be  conceded,  that  he  who  would  deliver  others  from  the 
power  of  sin  must  himself  be  free  from  its  power  — 
be  entirely  above  and  aloof  from  it.  While,  therefore, 
we  can  conceive  of  an  exhibition  of  our  nature  that 
w  ould  appear  to  us  faultless,  while  we  might  not  be  cer- 
tain that  it  was  sinless,  yet  we  cannot  conceive  of  one, 
coming  as  a  redeemer  and  deliverer  from  sin,  who 
had  himself  ever  swerved  from  moral  rectitude  even 
in  thought  or  feeling.  But  since  the  great  purpose 
for  which  Christ  came  was  to  "  save  his  people  from 
their  sins,"  it  became  necessary  that  he  should  him- 
self be,  and  claim  to  be,  entirely  free  from  sin. 

That  Christ  made  this  claim,  and  that  his  disciples 
made  it  for  him,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  They  made 
it  impliedly,  and  they  made  it  expressly.  Christ  said, 
"Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin?"  —  that  he  did 
always  those  things  that  pleased  the  Father, —  that  he 
was  one  with  the  Father.  Peter  says,  expressly,  that 
he  "  did  no  sin,"  that  he  was  "the  holy  one  and  the 
just ;  "  and  Paul  says  that  he  was  "  holy,  harmless, 
undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners." 


LECTURE   Vlir.  251 

But  what  a  claim  is  this! — a  claim  never  made  by 
any  other  human  being.  Such  a  claim,  the  most 
extraordinary,  and  the  most  difficult  to  be  sustained,  of 
any  that  was  ever  set  up,  while  it  is  implied  in  the 
idea  of  a  redeemer  from  sin,  must  have  been  fotal  to 
any  impostor.  Is  this  claim  admitted,  or  is  it  denied? 
If  it  is  admitted,  the  claims  of  Christianity  are  admit- 
ted with  it.  If  it  is  denied,  the  claims  of  Christianity, 
as  a  religion,  are  denied;  for,  as  a  mode  of  deliverance 
from  sin,  and  of  salvation,  its  whole  value  turns  upon 
this.  Men  may  have  what  knowledge  they  please  of 
external  evidences,  and  of  mere  facts,  but  this  can 
never  work  a  spiritual  renov^ation.  They  must  come 
to  Christ,  and  believe  in  him  as  a  sinless  Redeemer,  or 
there  can  no  virtue  go  out  of  him  for  their  spiritual 
healing. 

The  proof  that  Christ  was  a  sinless  being  will  be 
founded,  first,  on  the  same  facts  that  prove  his  perfect 
example.  Here,  too,  we  may  properly  receive  his  own 
testimony,  since  he  could  not  have  been  deceived  on 
this  point.  His  perfect  sinlessness  is  also  to  be  in- 
ferred from  the  effects  produced  by  his  life  upon  his 
disciples  ;  from  its  effects  upon  the  world  ;  and  from 
the  fact  that,  as  the  mind  of  any  individual  becomes 
more  pure  and  elevated,  he  perceives  a  greater  and 
greater  purity  and  elevation  in  the  character  of  Christ, 
so  that,  to  whatever  height  he  may  attain,  he  still  per- 
ceives the  majestic  form  of  the  Redeemer  moving 
before  him.  I  leave  the  point  by  remarking,  that  if 
any  wish  to  see  it  fully  illustrated,  I  would  refer  them 
to  an  excellent  essay  upon  it  by  Dr.  Ullman,  in 
the  "  German  Selections,"  translated  by  Edwards  and 
Park. 


252  LECTURE    VIII. 

4.  Christ  also  claimed  that  all  men  should  love 
and  obey  him.  This  —  the  assertion  of  a  right  to  a 
paramount  and  spiritual  dominion,  not  over  one  race 
or  one*  age  only,  but  over  all  mankind,  and  through 
all  coming  ages — was,  as  I  have  already  said,  entirely 
peculiar.  It  must  imply  a  claim  to  stand  in  the  rela- 
tion of  a  personal  benefactor  to  every  one,  and  to  pos- 
sess such  a  character  as  ought  to  call  forth  affection. 
After  the  other  claims  of  Christ,  we  need  not  be 
surprised  at  this.  But  what  a  glorious  kingdom  of 
affection  and  love  does  it  open  before  us !  Here  is  the 
foundation  of  that  kingdom  of  love  of  which  Napoleon 
spoke  when  he  compared  the  kingdom  of  Christ  with 
his  own.  "Alexander,  Caesar,  Charlemagne,  and  my- 
self," said  he,  "  founded  empires  ;  but  upon  what 
foundations  did  we  rest  the  creations  of  our  genius  ? 
Upon  force.  Jesus  Christ  alone  founded  his  empire 
upon  love,  and,  at  this  hour,  millions  of  men  would  die 

for  him I  die   before  my  time,  and  my  body 

will  be  given  back  to  the  earth  to  become  the  food  of 
worms.  Such  is  the  fate  of  him  who  has  been  called 
the  great  Napoleon.  What  an  abyss  between  my  deep 
misery  and  the  eternal  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  is 
proclaimed,  loved,  and  adored,  and  w^hich  is  extending 
over  the  whole  earth !  " 

5.  Christ  claimed  to  work  miracles.  I  mention 
this,  not  because  he  alone  has  made  this  claim  or 
has  wrought  miracles,  but  because,  all  the  circum- 
stances considered,  he  stands  entirely  by  himself  in 
this  respect.  I  have  already  spoken  of  the  character 
of  his  miracles,  as  sufficient  of  itself  to  confirm  his 
divine  mission.  They  were  none  of  them  wrought  for 
his  personal  advantage,  or  for  display,  or  capriciously, 


LECTURE    VIII.  253 

or  to  gratify  curiosity.  Tliey  were  all  benevolent  and 
worthy  of  Cod.  lie  was  jjeculiar,  too,  in  the  numljcr 
of  his  miracles.  It  is  probable,  from  the  accounts 
given,  that,  on  a  single  occasion,  he  wrought  more 
miracles  than  had  been  wrought  by  all  the  prophets 
from  the  beginning.  He  was  also  peculiar  in  his 
manner  of  working  miracles.  He  performed  them 
with  entire  simplicity  and  facility,  and  generally,  so  far 
as  appears,  by  his  own  authority.  "  He  commanded 
the  unclean  spirits,  and  they  came  out."  He  said  to 
the  sea,  "  Peace,  be  still."  When  he  raised  the  dead, 
he  simply  said,  "  Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee.  Arise." 
The  apostles  did  their  miracles  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
and  the  manner  of  the  prophets  was  entirely  different, 
giving  no  such  impressions  of  power  and  majesty. 

6.  Christ  also  claimed  that  in  him  the  prophecies 
of  the  Old  Testament  were  fulfilled.  I  mention  this 
among  the  claims  which  he  must  be  acknowledged  to 
have  made,  but  shall  not  dwell  upon  it  here,  because  I 
intend  to  speak  of  it  more  fully  at  another  time.  The 
claim,  however,  is  not  a  slight  one,  to  stand  as  the 
subject  of  prophecy  and  the  antitype  of  all  the  types 
in  the  old  dispensation  from  the  beginning,  —  the 
claim  that  he  was  a  person  of  such  importance  as  to 
have  been  spoken  of  from  the  first  by  holy  men,  and 
to  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  as  testifying  of  him. 

7.  Christ  claimed  that  he  would  rise  from  the 
dead.  What  could  have  induced  him  to  make  so 
strange  a  claim  as  this  ?  And  yet,  to  substantiate 
this  claim,  thus  put  forth,  we  have  an  accumulation  of 
evidence  such  as  we  have  for  scarcely  any  other  an- 
cient fact. 

8.  Of  the  claim  of  Christ  to  be  the  final  Judge 


254  LECTURE    VIII. 

of  the  world  I  shall  say  nothing,  because,  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  I  have  no  means  of  verifying  it 
The  fact  that  he  made  this  claim,  however,  is  all  that 
is  needed  for  the  purpose  of  my  present  argument ; 
and  1  will  only  observe,  that  it  is  not  more  extra- 
ordinary than  his  other  claims,  and  is  in  perfect  keep- 
ing with  them.  If  we  admit  his  other  claims,  we  shall 
of  course  admit  this. 

Such  were  the  condition,  the  claims,  and  the  char- 
acter, of  Jesus  Christ.  And  now,  is  it  possible  that  he 
was  either  deceived  or  a  deceiver  ?  Was  he  sincere 
in  making  these  claims  ?  If  he  was,  and  they  are 
not  well  founded,  then  I  ask,  could  a  young  man,  poor, 
unlearned,  brought  up  in  an  obscure  village,  accus- 
tomed to  an  humble  employment,  make  such  claims, 
and  not  be  utterly  insane  ?  Can  we  conceive  of  a 
wilder  hallucination  ?  Is  there  one  of  all  the  vagaries 
entertained  by  the  tenants  of  our  lunatic  asylums  that 
is  more  extravagant  than  these  ?  No  mere  self-exalta- 
tion or  enthusiasm,  nothing  short  of  insanity,  can 
account  for  such  claims.  I  mention  this  the  rather, 
because  I  remember  to  have  been  struck  by  it  in  read- 
ing the  New  Testament  in  my  early  days.  When 
I  heard  this  man,  apparently  so  lowly,  saying  that  he 
was  the  light  of  the  world,  —  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink,"  —  that  he  was  one  with 
God,  that  all  things  were  delivered  to  him  by  his 
Father,  that  he  that  had  seen  him  had  seen  the  Father, 
that  whatsoever  the  disciples  should  ask  in  his  name 
he  would  do  it,  that  he  would  rise  from  the  dead,  and 
come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  attended  by  myriads  of 
angels,  to  Judge  the  world,  I  felt  that  I  had  evidence, 


LECTURE    VIII.  255 

eitlier  that  those  claims  were  well-founded,  or  of  a 
hopeless  insanity.  No  wonder  those  who  did  not 
believe  said  of  him,  "  He  hath  a  devil,  and  is  mad  : 
why  hear  je  him  ?  "  But  then,  as  now,  there  was  the 
unanswerable  reply,  "  These  are  not  the  words  of  him 
that  hath  a  devil.  Can  a  devil  open  the  eyes  of  the 
blind  ? "  When  we  look  at  his  discourses,  at  their 
calmness,  at  their  deep  insight  and  profound  wisdom; 
when  we  see  that  the  discoveries  of  all  ages  have 
only  shed  lustre  upon  their  wisdom,  and  that  the 
wisest  and  best  portion  of  the  race  now  sit  at  his  feet 
as  their  instructor ;  when  we  see  the  more  than  pro- 
priety, the  self-possession,  the  dignity,  of  his  deport- 
ment under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  we  feel 
that  not  a  voice  from  heaven  could  make  it  more 
certain  that  his  was  not  a  crazed,  or  a  weak,  or  an 
unbalanced  intellect.  This  fact  is  borne  witness  to 
by  the  light  of  its  own  evidence  ;  it  shines  by  its  own 
brightness. 

Did  he,  then,  in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  mind,  put 
forth  those  claims  w  ith  the  intention  to  deceive  others  ? 
This,  as  I  have  just  intimated,  I  hold  to  have  been  im- 
possihle.  No  impostor  of  common  sense  could  have 
had  the  folly  to  prefer  such  claims.  But,  if  this  con- 
sideration is  conclusive,  how  much  more  is  that  drawn 
from  the  moral  character  of  Christ  ?  Look  at  his  un- 
affected and  all-pervading  piety,  at  his  universal  and 
self-sacrificing  benevolence ;  look  at  his  purity  and  ele- 
vation above  the  world;  listen  to  his  prayer  for  his 
murderers  on  the  cross  ;  and  say,  is  it  possible  that 
through  all  this  he  was  meditating  a  scheme  of  decep- 
tion deeper,  more  extensive,  involving  greater  sacri- 
fices and  sufferings,  and  more  ultimate  disappointment 


256  LECTURE    VIII. 

to  human  hope,  than  any  other  ?  Do  we  not  know 
that  this  was  not  so  ?  If  we  could  believe  this,  would 
not  that  faith  in  goodness,  which  is  the  vital  element  in 
the  atmosphere  of  our  moral  life,  be  destroyed  ?  And 
what  would  remain  to  us  but  the  stifling,  and  oppres- 
sive, and  desolating  conviction,  that  there  could  be  no 
ground  of  faith  in  any  indications  of  goodness  ?  We 
cannot  believe  this,  we  will  not  believe  it.  Take 
away,  if  you  will,  the  vital  element  of  the  air,  disrobe 
the  sun  of  his  beams,  but  remove  not  from  me  this 
life  of  my  life ;  leave  to  me  the  full-orbed  and  unshorn 
brightness  of  the  character  of  Christ,  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness. 

It  only  remains  that  I  should  refer  to  what  has, 
indeed,  been  implied  throughout  the  preceding  part 
of  the  lecture  —  that  gathering  about  the  person  of 
Christ  of  so  many  and  such  extraordinary  circum- 
stances ;  that  clustering  upon  him  of  so  many  wonderful 
and  diverse  characteristics  and  appropriate  insignia  of 
a  messeno;er  from  God  :  that  accumulation  of  evidences 
which  come  in,  as  it  were,  from  the  four  winds, 
and  become  as  a  crown  of  many  stars  upon  the  head 
of  the  Redeemer.  It  is  to  be  distinctly  noticed,  in 
estimating  the  evidence,  that  it  is  not  one  only  of  the 
surprising  offices  and  characteristics  which  have  been 
mentioned  that  he  sustained  so  perfectly,  but  all  of 
them.  It  is  the  same  great  Teacher  around  whoso 
system  natural  religion,  and  the  old  dispensation,  and 
all  human  science,  stand  up  and  do  obeisance,  as  did 
the  sheaves  of  Joseph's  brethren  around  his  sheaf,  who 
also  set  a  perfect  example,  and  stands  before  us  as  the 
model  man.  It  is  the  same  person  who  "  did  no  sin," 
who  wrought  miracles,  who    fulfilled    the  prophecies. 


LECTURE   VIII.  257 

who  rose  from  the  dead,  around  whom  there  shines,  as 
I  shall  show  hereafter,  such  an  effulgence  of  external 
evidence,  whose  life  and  death  have  been  followed  by 
such  amazing  effects.  If  we  were  to  estimate  by  the 
doctrine  of  chances  the  probability  that  so  many  ex- 
traordinary circumstances,  each  of  which  could  be 
confirmed  by  so  much  evidence,  should  meet  upon  a 
single  person,  the  fraction  expressing  that  probability 
would  be  infinitely  small.  Had  any  one  of  these 
characteristics  belonged  to  any  other  individual,  it 
would  have  placed  him  among  the  most  distinguished 
personages  of  history;  but  when  we  see  them  all 
clustering  upon  the  lowly  Jesus,  the  crucified  One, 
we  must  say,  with  one  of  old,  "We  have  found  the 
Messias." 


33 


LECTURE   IX. 


THE  EXTERNAL  EVIDENCE. —  GENERAL  GROUNDS  ON  WHICH 
THIS  IS  TO  BE  PUT.  — AUTHENTICITY  AND  INTEGRITY  OF 
THE    WRITINGS   OF   THE    NEW   TESTAMENT. 

When  we  came  into  life,  we  found  Christianity  ex- 
isting. It  was  our  business,  as  independent  thinkers, 
to  examine  it  in  its  relations  to  the  human  consti- 
tution and  to  human  well-being.  This  we  have  done 
in  the  preceding  lectures ;  and  if  the  system  be  such 
as  it  has  been  represented  to  be,  then  we  may  well 
feel  a  deep  interest  in  every  thing  relating  to  its  origin 
and  history  —  in  what  have  been  called  its  external 
evidences.     To  those  evidences,  then,  we  now  turn. 

In  this  department  of  the  evidences,  the  object  of 
our  inquiry  is,  not  adaptations,  or  doctrines,  or  opinions, 
or  inferences,  but  simply  historical  facts. 

Was  there  such  a  person  as  Jesus  Christ.^  Was 
he  crucified  ?  Did  he  rise  from  the  dead  ?  These 
are  questions  which  we  are  to  settle  precisely  as  we 
would  settle  the  questions  whether  there  was  such  a 
man  as  Augustus  Caesar,  and  whether  he  became  the 
sole  ruler  of  the  Roman  empire.  These  are  no  ab- 
stract questions,  and  w^e  are  not  to  let  any  of  the 
uncertainty  which  must  often  belong  to  the  discussion 
of  such  questions  connect  itself  with  these.     There  is 


LECTURE    rX.  259 

a  science  of  evidence  ;  tliere  are  laws  of  evidence;  and 
all  we  ask  is  that  those  laws  may  be  applied  to  the 
facts  of  Christianity  precisely  as  they  are  to  any  other 
facts.  We  insist  upon  it  that  the  evidence  ought  to  be 
judged  of  by  itself,  simply  as  evidence  ;  that  no  man 
has  a  right  first  to  examine  the  facts,  and  make  up 
an  antecedent  Judgment  that  they  are  improbable,  and 
then  transfer  this  feeling  of  improbability  over  to  the 
evidence.  We  hold  to  the  principle  of  Butler,  that, 
to  a  being  like  man,  objections  against  Christianity, 
as  distinguished  from  objections  against  its  evidence, 
unless,  indeed,  it  can  be  shown  to  contain  something 
either  immoral  or  absurd,  really  amount  to  nothing. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  striking  peculiarity  of  the  Christian 
religion,  that  the  truth  of  its  doctrines,  and  the  power 
of  its  motives,  are  inseparably  connected  with  the 
reality  of  certain  facts  which  might  originally  be 
judged  of  by  the  senses,  and  which  are  now  to  be 
determined  by  the  same  historical  evidence  as  we 
employ  in  judging  of  any  other  focts.  As  fully  as  I 
have  entered  upon  the  internal  evidence,  as  satisfacto- 
ry as  I  regard  the  proof  it  furnishes,  as  heartily  as  I 
should  deprecate  a  merely  historical  religion,  necessa- 
rily destitute  of  any  life-giving  power,  I  would  yet 
say,  distinctly,  that  I  believe  in  no  religion  that  is 
not  supported  by  historical  proof.  Unless  Jesus  Christ 
lived,  and  wrought  miracles,  and  was  crucified,  and 
rose  from  the  dead,  Christianity  is  an  imposture  — 
beautiful,  indeed,  and  utterly  unaccountable,  but  still 
an  imposture. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  enough  considered  how  much 
Christianity  is  contradistinguished,  in  this  respect,  not 
only  from  other  systems  of  religion,  but  from  all  systems 


260  LECTURE    IX. 

and  questions  of  philosophy.  Christ  said,  "  Though 
ye  believe  not  me,  believe  the  works."  So  said  not 
Mohammed.  The  facts  on  which  his  system,  as  a 
religion,  rests,  depend  solely  on  the  testimony  of  one 
man.  So  says  not  any  system  of  philosophy.  It  is 
a  totally  different  thing  for  the  philosopher  to  present 
certain  doctrines  for  our  reception  on  the  ground  of 
his  reasoning,  and  for  the  witness  to  testify,  "  That 
which  we  have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our 
eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and  our  hands 
have  handled,  —  declare  we  unto  you."  Christianity 
is,  indeed,  a  spiritual  religion  ;  but  it  is  a  spirituality 
manifesting  itself  through  facts,  clothed  in  substantial 
forms.  It  says  to  the  unbelieving,  "  Reach  hither  thy 
finger  and  behold  my  hands,  and  reach  hither  thy  hand 
and  thrust  it  into  my  side."  In  saying  this,  it  offers 
itself  to  be  tried  by  a  new  test  —  such  a  one  as  no 
other  rehgion  can  stand.  But  the  Christian  religion 
shrinks  from  no  test.  We  wish  it  to  be  fully  tried. 
We  know  that,  like  the  pure  gold,  the  more  it  is  tried, 
the  more  clearly  it  will  be  seen  to  be  genuine.  That 
a  religion  intended  for  the  race  would  need  the  kind 
of  evidence  of  which  I  am  now  to  speak,  is  plain ;  but 
the  difficulty  is  immeasurably  increased  when  it  is  at- 
tempted to  sustain  an  imposture  by  evidence  of  this 
kind,  freely  thrown  open  to  all. 

As,  then,  our  object  is  to  ascertain  the  reality  of  cer- 
tain alleged  facts,  it  may  be  well  to  look  at  the  grounds 
on  which  we  believe  other  and  similar  facts.  It  has 
generally  been  said,  that  the  sole  ground  on  which  we 
believe  facts  that  we  have  not  ourselves  witnessed, 
is  that  of  testimony.  In  some  cases  this  is  so,  but  in 
many  others  I  should  think  it  an  inadequate  account  of 


LECTURE    IX.  261 

the  grounds  of  our  belief.  When  a  man  finds  an  an- 
cient mound  at  the  west,  and  in  it  human  bones  and 
the  implements  of  eivilization,  is  it  on  the  ground  of 
testimony  that  he  beHeves  tliat  this  continent  was  onee 
inliabited  by  a  raee  now  extinct?  Or,  again;  if  I 
were  required  to  prove  that  such  a  man  as  General 
Washington  ever  existed,  and  performed  the  acts  gen- 
erally ascribed  to  him,  should  I  rest  on  the  ground  of 
testimony  alone  ?  Perhaps  the  evidence  of  testimony 
is  involved  in  the  fact  that  his  birthday  is  celebrated ; 
but  that  fact  is  something  more  than  mere  testimony. 
So,  when  I  go  to  the  house  where  it  is  said  he  lived 
and  the  tomb  where  it  is  said  he  is  buried,  when  I  see 
the  sword  presented  to  Congress  which  it  is  said  he 
wore,  I  find,  in  the  existence  of  the  house,  the  tomb, 
the  sword,  an  evidence  distinct  from  that  of  naked 
testimony.  So,  again,  when  I  look  at  the  independ- 
ence of  this  country,  and  at  its  republican  institutions, 
and  find  them  ascribed  by  universal  testimony  to  what 
Washington  did,  and  w^hen  I  find  existing  no  other 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  our  independence  was 
achieved  and  our  institutions  established,  then  I  find, 
in  the  fact  of  the  independence  of  this  country  and  the 
existence  of  its  free  institutions,  an  evidence  distinct 
from  that  of  mere  testimony.  Every  lawyer  knows 
the  difference  between  naked  testimony  and  testi- 
mony thus  corroborated  by  circumstantial  evidence. 

Here,  then,  we  find  the  ground  of  a  wide  distinc- 
tion between  the  different  classes  of  facts  for  which  we 
have  evidence.  They  may  be  divided  into  those  which 
rest  on  the  evidence  of  testimony  alone,  and  those 
which  we  receive,  not  merely  on  the  direct  evidence 
of  testimony,  but  which  produced  permanent  effects  in 


262  LECTURE    IX. 

the  world  that  are  now  manifest,  and  whicii  can  be 
reasonably  traced  to  no  other  causes  than  those  as- 
signed bj  the  testimony.  And  of  this  hitter  kind, 
especially,  some  are  so  substantiated,  that  no  miracle 
could  be  more  strange,  or  more  difficult  to  be  believed^ 
or  more  a  violation  of  the  uniform  course  of  our  ex- 
perience, than  that  such  evidence  should  deceive  us. 
The  existence  and  history  of  Washington,  for  example, 
are  so  much  involved  in  the  present  state  of  things, 
the  evidence  for  them  comes  from  so  many  sources, 
it  touches  so  many  points,  that  to  deny  them  would 
be  a  practical  absurdity.  We  should  think  it  no  breach 
of  charity  to  say  to  him  who  questioned  such  evidence, 
that  he  was  insincere. 

Now,  it  is  on  this  general  ground  that  the  evidence 
for  Christianity  rests ;  and  we  say  that  no  man  can 
pluck  away  the  pillars  on  which  it  rests,  without  bring- 
ing down  the  whole  fabric  of  historical  evidence  in 
ruins  over  his  head.  We  say  that  this  evidence  can- 
not be  invalidated  without  introducing  universal  and 
absolute  historical  skepticism.  Christianity,  with  all 
its  institutions,  exists.  Christendom  exists,  and  it  is 
important  to  our  argument  that  the  greatness  of  this 
fact  should  not  be  overlooked.  It  is  the  great  fact  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Here  is  a  religion,  received 
by  a  large  portion  of  the  human  race  ;  by  that  portion, 
too,  which  takes  the  lead  in  civilization  and  the  arts. 
It  confessedly  supplanted  other  religions  ;  it  produced 
a  revolution  in  the  opinions  and  habits  of  men,  unpar- 
alleled in  the  history  of  the  world.  It  has  not  merely 
accomplished  religious  and  moral  revolutions,  but,  inci- 
dentally, social  and  civil  changes,  so  as  completely  to 
transform  the  face  of  society.     It  came  to  its  ascend- 


LECTURE    IX.  263 

eiicy  through  great  opposition  and  persecutions,  such 
as  no  other  rehgion  ever  did  or  could  withstand;  and 
now  it  does  not  live  by  flattering  the  natural  passions 
of  men,  or  by  letting  them  alone  and  requiring  of 
them  no  sacrifices.  It  has  not,  like  other  religions, 
depended  for  its  existence  and  power  upon  its  connec- 
tion with  the  state ;  for,  though  it  has  often  been  con- 
nected with  the  state,  and,  in  some  particular  form, 
uphekl  by  it,  yet  it  flourishes  best  when  left  to  find  its 
own  way,  and  to  control  the  hearts  of  men  by  its  own 
proper  force. 

Now,  the  existence  of  such  a  religion  as  this,  in  the 
world,  requires  to  be  accounted  for.  It  would  be 
absurd  to  suppose  that,  in  a  period  of  high  intel- 
lectual cultivation,  it  should  spring  up  and  subvert 
other  religions,  without  being  challenged  by  mankind, 
and  having  its  credentials  demanded,  and  its  history 
known.  But  if  the  facts  on  which  the  religion  was 
based  were  once  known,  it  would  seem  in  the  last 
degree  improbable  that  the  knowledge  of  them  should 
perish,  and  the  religion  remain ;  or,  what  would  be  still 
more  strange,  not  only  that  all  knowledge,  oral  or 
written,  of  these  facts  should  have  perished,  but  that 
a  false  and  most  minute  account  should  have  been  sub- 
stituted for  the  true  one,  and  received  from  the  first. 

Moreover,  it  is  chiefly  with  facts  that  exert  an  impor- 
tant influence  on  the  destiny  of  mankind,  that  tradition 
connects  itself;  and  this,  in  connection  with  institutions 
which  enter  into  the  fabric  of  society,  or  with  monu- 
ments or  observances  handed  down  by  an  unbroken 
succession  of  persons,  who  have  felt  a  deep  interest  in 
the  facts  in  question,  cannot  fail  to  preserve  the  great 
outlines  of  events  as  Ion":  as  such  observances  and  mon- 


264  LECTURE   IX. 

uments  remain.  If  all  written  records  were  blotted  out 
from  this  time,  and  jet  the  independence  of  this  nation 
were  to  be  preserved,  and  the  fourth  of  July  were  to 
continue  to  be  annually  celebrated,  who  can  suppose 
that,  in  any  length  of  years,  all  trace  of  the  true  origin 
of  the  day  should  be  lost,  and  another,  entirely  false,  sub- 
stituted for  it  ?  So,  when  we  find  a  Christian  church, 
that  has  existed  as  a  separate  independent  body  from 
the  origin  of  the  religion,  celebrating  an  ordinance  once 
a  week,  or  once  a  month,  or  once  in  two  months,  in 
commemoration  of  the  death  of  Christ,  if  we  had  no 
other  evidence  for  it  than  that  of  tradition,  the  pre- 
sumption would  be  very  strong  that,  at  least,  such  a 
man  as  Christ  lived  and  died,  and  was  supposed  to 
have  conferred  some  distinguished  benefit.  And  in 
this  case  the  evidence  is  peculiarly  strong,  because  the 
ordinance  has  been  so  frequently  repeated,  and  so 
widely  extended.  No  delusion,  from  national  pride  or 
local  feeling,  can  be  suspected,  because  we  find  the 
same  tradition,  and  the  same  ordinance,  in  the  most 
distant  and  remote  countries.  Millions  of  Christians 
now  regard  this  rite  as  the  most  sacred  one  belonging 
to  a  religion  for  which  they  are  ready  to  lay  down  their 
lives ;  they  received  it  from  those  who  were  equally 
attached  to  it;  and  so  it  must  have  been  up  to  the 
point  —  a  point  perfectly  well  defined  in  history — from 
which  the  tradition,  and  the  written  history,  and  the 
ordinance,  started  together. 

Here,  then,  we  find  Christendom,  and  the  Christian 
church  —  a  body  of  men  as  distinctly  organized  and  as 
intimately  associated  as  those  of  any  state  —  having  its 
institutions,  its  traditions,  and  its  records,  all  perfectly 
harmonizing  with  each  other.     These  records  bear  on 


LECTURE    IX.  265 

the  face  of  them  the  marks  of  veracity ;  there  is  noth- 
ing known  that  is  contradictory  to  them ;  they  contain 
a  fair  and  phiusible  account  of  the  origin  of  the  church. 
Admit  the  account,  and  every  difliculty  is  removed. 
Refuse  to  admit  it,  and  you  destroy  the  very  founda- 
tions of  liistorical  proof  in  any  fact  whatever.  So 
much,  indeed,  are  the  general  facts  of  Christianity  im- 
phed  in  the  present  state  of  the  world,  and  so  much 
has  it  of  that  conviction  which  springs  from  universal 
notoriety,  and  which  we  can  neither  doubt,  nor  trace 
to  any  particular  source,  that  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say, 
that  the  objections  brought  by  Archbishop  Whately 
against  the  existence  and  general  history  of  Napo- 
leon Bonaparte  are  quite  as  plausible  as  any  that  can 
be  brought  against  the  existence  and  general  history 
of   Christ. 

And  more  especially  ought  we  to  receive  facts  thus 
substantiated,  when  we  remember  how  fully  we  be- 
lieve those  which  are  established  by  testimony  alone. 
This,  as  w^as  said  in  a  former  lecture,  may  be  the 
ground  of  a  certainty  as  full  and  perfect  as  any  of 
which  we  can  conceiv'e.  Can  I  doubt  that  there  is 
such  a  city  as  Rome,  or  such  a  person  as  Queen 
Victoria  ?  or  that  there  has  been  such  a  person  as 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  or  George  the  Fourth  ?  And 
yet  I  know  these  facts  solely  by  testimony.  Who 
doubts,  or  can  doubt,  that  Augustus  Caesar  was  em- 
peror of  Rome  ?  Who  would  fear  to  stake  his  life  on 
the  fact  that  such  a  man  as  Alexander  the  Great  ex- 
isted ?  And  yet  no  trace  of  that  fact  remains  in  the 
present  organizations  or  customs  of  society,  and  the 
written  and  traditionary  evidence  for  it  is  as  nothing 
compared  with  that  of  Christianity. 


266  LECTURE   IX. 

It  is  not,  then,  true  of  every  kind  of  testimony  that 
it  sometimes  deceives  us.  There  may  be  testimony  of 
such  a  nature  as  never  was,  and  never  can  be,  false; 
and  it  was  a  poor  fallacy  of  Hume  to  attempt  to  trans- 
fer over  to  all  testimony  that  uncertainty  which  be- 
longs to  it  only  in  some  cases.  We  affirm  that  the 
testimony  for  Christianity,  taken  by  itself,  is  such  as 
could  not  possibly  be  deceptive,  as  was  never  known 
to  be  so  since  the  world  began ;  and  we  challenge 
infidels  to  point  out  an  instance  of  such  deception. 
When  they  do  this,  they  may  talk  of  the  uncertainty 
of  testimony. 

I  may  properly  refer  here,  also,  to  another  common 
fallacy  respecting  testimony,  which  is  based  on  the 
same  principle  of  transferring  to  the  whole  what 
belongs  only  to  a  part,  and  which  has  had  some  in- 
fluence. It  is,  that  testimony  loses  its  weight  by  age ; 
that  every  century  steals  something  from  its  proba- 
bility. As  if  testimony  that  was  once  true,  would  not 
always  be  true ;  and  the  question  whether  it  shall 
appear  more  or  less  true  to  the  minds  of  men,  after 
longer  or  shorter  periods  have  elapsed,  is  one  that 
must  be  determined  by  circumstances.  Nothing  can 
be  more  untrue  than  the  general  assertion,  as  made 
universally ;  and,  as  applied  to  the  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity, I  deny  it  altogether.  Age  itself,  as  such,  has 
no  tendency  to  impair  the  force  of  testimony  ;  and 
it  often  happens  that,  by  the  discovery  of  coins,  or 
ruins,  or  hieroglyphics,  or  inscriptions,  or  manuscripts, 
testimony  which  had  been  doubted  for  ages  is  fully 
confirmed.  It  is,  indeed,  a  fact,  that,  from  fuller 
research,  and  from  such  discoveries,  the  historical 
testimony  for  Christianity,  instead  of  being  diminished 


LECTURE    IX.  2G7 

within  the   last  hundred   jears,  lias  been  greatly  in- 
creased and  strengthened. 

But,  valid  as  is  the  evidence  of  testimony,  we  do  not 
feel  that  we  rest  upon  that  alone,  but  that  the  facts  of 
Christianity  are  sustained  by  every  species  of  evidence 
by  which  it  is  possible  that  any  past  event  should  be 
substantiated.  The  great  facts  in  history  are  very  few 
—  I  think  of  none  —  which  are  implied  in  the  present 
state  of  the  civilized  world  as  are  those  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  It  is  as  if  the  taking  of  Constantinople 
by  the  Turks  were  to  be  confirmed  by  a  reference  to 
its  present  state.  Let  us  suppose,  to  illustrate  this 
point  more  fully,  that  a  book  purporting  to  be  a  history 
of  the  Turks,  and  giving  an  account  of  their  taking 
the  city  of  Constantinople  and  making  it  their  capi- 
tal, were  put  mto  the  hands  of  a  man  who  had  never 
heard  of  that  people.  If  it  bore  upon  its  face  evidence 
of  its  being  a  true  history,  he  might  receive  it,  and 
this  would  be  naked  testimony.  But,  if  he  should 
afterwards  travel,  and  find  this  same  people  making  a 
city  of  that  name  their  capital,  and  find  still  dwelling 
among  them  the  remains  of  a  subjugated  people,  and 
should  find,  both  among  Turks  and  others,  one  unva- 
rying tradition  of  the  same  events,  and  should  find, 
moreover,  other  and  independent  histories  agreeing  in 
all  respects  with  the  history  he  had  first  seen,  and  the 
original  letters  of  the  commanders  of  the  army  in  those 
days,  he  would  feel  that  all  room  for  doubt  was  re- 
moved. But  all  this  evidence,  and  more,  would  he 
have  who  should  have  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  and  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  put  into  his  hands,  and  should 
then  be  made  acquainted  for  the  first  time  with  the 


268  LECTURE    IX. 

present  state  of  the  world,  and  with  the  other  books 
of  the  New  Testament. 

With  this  general  statement  of  the  nature  of  the 
evidence,  I  proceed  to  consider  more  particularly,  in 
reference  to  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  the  two 
great  questions  of  their  authenticity  and  their  credi- 
bility. The  question  of  credibility  is,  of  course,  the 
great  question ;  but,  in  the  present  case,  that  of  authen- 
ticity is  so  intimately  connected  with  this,  that  it 
cannot  be   omitted. 

Let  us  inquire,  then,  what  evidence  we  have  that 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  written  by  the 
persons  whose  names  they  bear,  and  at  the  time  they 
purport  to  have  been  written.  No  one  can  be  more 
aware  than  I  am  that  this  is  beaten  ground;  but  my 
business  is,  as  I  said  at  the  commencement  of  these 
lectures,  to  present  the  argument.  The  materials  for 
it  are  abundant ;  their  force  is  overwhelming  :  the  only 
difficulty  is  to  present  them  so,  within  the  space  to 
which  I  must  now  be  restricted,  that  that  force  shall 
be  felt.  The  great  storehouse  of  learning  on  this  sub- 
ject is  Lardner;  and  to  him  all  subsequent  writers 
refer,  doing  little  more  than  to  quote  and  abridge  him. 
For  ordinary  purposes,  however,  such  works  as  those 
«f  Home  and  Paley  are  sufficiently  full.* 

We  have  the  New  Testament,  consisting  of  twenty- 
seven  separate  books,  written  by  eight  different  au- 
thors. Some  of  these  books  are  formal  histories  —  one 
is  a  personal  narrative  —  but  the  most  of  them  are  letters 

*  It  is  chiefly  on  their  authority  that   the  quotations  on  the  subse- 
quent pages  are  made. 


LECTURE    IX.  269 

addressed  to  associated  l)odies  of  Christians.  That 
they  were  written  by  the  j)ersons  to  whom  they  are 
ascribed,  and  at  the  time  claimed,  we  believe,  — 

First,  because  they  are  quoted  and  referred  to  by  a 
series  of  writers  in  close  and  uninterrupted  succession, 
from  that  time  till  the  present. 

1.  We  find  one  apostle  referring  to  the  writings  of 
another.  Peter  refers  to  the  writings  of  Paul,  char- 
acterizing them,  just  as  many  do  now,  as  containing 
some  things  hard  to  be  understood ;  but,  what  is 
remarkable,  recognizing  them  as  of  the  same  authority 
with  the  other  Scriptures.  The  force  of  this  incidental 
reference  to  the  writings  of  Paul,  by  Peter,  is  less  felt 
from  the  fact  that  both  writings  are  bound  up  in  the 
same  volume  ;  but  it  is  really  as  great  as  if  the  Epistle 
of  Peter  were  now  discovered  for  the  first  time. 

2.  We  have  writings  bearing  the  names  of  five 
persons,  who,  because  they  were  contemporary  with 
the  apostles,  are  called  "apostolical"  fathers,  and  three 
of  these,  Barnabas,  Clement,  and  Hermas,  are  men- 
tioned by  name  in  the  New  Testament.  But  as  there 
are  doubts  respecting  the  genuineness  of  the  writings 
ascribed  to  Barnabas  and  Hermas,  I  shall  not  quote 
from  them :  we  have  no  need  of  inferior  kinds  of 
evidence. 

'  The  Epistle  by  Clement  was  addressed  to  the 
church  at  Corinth,  and  is  spoken  of  by  the  ancients 
as  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  his.  Irenasus  says  it 
was  written  by  Clement,  "  who  had  seen  the  blessed 
apostles  and  conversed  with  them,  who  had  the  preach- 
ing of  the  apostles  still  sounding  in  his  ears,  and  their 
traditions  before  his  eyes."  And  Dionysius,  bishop  of 
Corinth,  about  eighty  or  ninety  years  after  the  Epistle 


270  LECTURE    IX. 

was  written  —  that  is,  in  the  year  170  —  bears  witness 
that  it  had  been  wont  to  be  read  in  that  church  from 
ancient  times.  "  Especially,"  says  Clement,  "remem- 
bering the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  which  he  spoke, 
teaching  gentleness  and  long-suffering;  for  thus  he  said, 
'  Be  ye  merciful,  that  ye  may  obtain  mercy ;  forgive, 
that  it  may  be  forgiven  unto  you  ;  as  you  do,  so  shall 
it  be  done  unto  you ;  as  ye  judge,  so  shall  ye  be 
judged ;  as  ye  show  kindness,  so  shall  kindness  be 
shown  unto  you  ;  with  what  measure  ye  mete,  with  the 
same  it  shall  be  measured  to  you.'  By  this  command, 
and  by  these  rules,  let  us  establish  ourselves,  that  we 
may  always  walk  obediently  to  his  holy  words."  I 
quote  this  passage  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  to  notice 
one  circumstance  respecting  all  the  quotations  from 
these  fathers  —  which  is,  that  they  do  not  quote  the 
evangelists  by  name,  and,  on  this  account,  it  may  be 
said  that  they  do  not  refer  to  them.  But  that  Clement 
did  here  quote  from  Matthew,  is  plain  from  the  coin- 
cidence of  the  words,  and  from  the  fact  that  he 
certainly  does  quote  both  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
and  to  the  Corinthians  in  the  same  way.  But,  to 
give  another  example  :  Can  any  one  doubt  the  origin 
of  the  following  ?  "  Remember  the  words  of  the  Lord 
Jesus;  for  he  said,  'Woe  to  that  man  by  whom  offences 
come :  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  should 
be  tied  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  should  be  drowned 
in  the  sea,  than  that  he  should  offend  one  of  these  little 
ones.'"*  This  Epistle  of  Clement,  it  is  to  be  observed, 
was  written  in  the  name  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and 
addressed  to  the    church    at  Corinth,   and    may   thus 

*  Epistle  of  Clement,  in  "  Apostolical  Fathers." 


LECTURE   IX.  271 

be    regarded    as   expressing   the   judgment   of   those 
churches. 

Ignatius  was  bishop  at  Antioch,  and  a  member  of 
that  church  at  least  as  early  as  thirty-seven  years 
after  Christ's  ascension.  He  quotes  Matthew  and 
John,  and  quotes  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Ephe- 
sjans  by  name. 

Polycarp  had  been  taught  by  the  apostles,  had 
conversed  with  many  who  had  seen  Christ,  and  was 
set  by  the  apostles  over  the  church  of  Smyrna. 
Irena^us,  who  in  his  youth  had  seen  him,  says,  "  I 
can  tell  the  place  in  which  the  blessed  Polycarp  sat 
and  taught,  and  his  going  out  and  coming  in,  and 
the  manner  of  his  life,  and  the  form  of  his  person, 
and  the  discourses  he  made  to  the  people,  and  how 
he  related  his  conversation  with  John  and  others 
who  had  seen  the  Lord,  both  concerning  his  mira- 
cles and  his  doctrine,  as  he  had  received  them  from 
the  eye-witnesses  of  the  w^ord  of  life  ;  all  which  Poly- 
carp related  agreeably  to  the  Scriptures,''^  Of  Poly- 
carp one  undoubted  Epistle  remains,  and  in  this, 
though  short,  we  have  about  forty  clear  allusions  to 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 

Papias  was  a  hearer  of  John,  and  a  companion  of 
Polycarp.  Of  his  we  have  nothing  remaining  ;  but 
Eusebius  quotes  from  a  work  of  his,  in  which  he  as- 
cribes their  respective  Gospels  to  Matthew  and  Mark. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  testimony  of  writers  who 
all  lived  and  conversed  with  the  apostles,  and  in  their 
writings  we  have  numerous  quotations  or  plain  allu- 
sions to  most  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament ; 
and,  what  is  remarkable,  they  uniformly  treat  them 
with  the  reverence  belonging  to  inspired  books. 


272  LECTURE   IX. 

Of  late,  —  as  might  have  been  anticipated  among 
a  set  of  critics  and  philosophers  who  doubt  the  exist- 
ence of  Christ  himself,  and  who  also  doubt  whether 
any  thing  either  exists  now  or  ever  did  exist,  —  the 
authenticity  of  all  these  writings  has  been  doubted. 
But,  so  far  as  I  understand  the  subject,  this  is  with- 
out any  good  reason  in  regard  to  those  which  1  have 
specially  quoted. 

And  here  I  will  make  a  remark  that  needs  to  be 
borne  in  mind  in  all  our  use  of  dates,  in  speaking  of 
the  early  history  of  Christianity.  It  is,  that  the  cen- 
tury commences  with  the  birth  of  Christ,  whereas 
the  history  of  the  religion  does  not  commence  till 
thirty-three  years  afterwards,  —  so  that  the  end  of  the 
first  century  was  only  sixty-seven  years  from  the  first 
attempt  by  the  apostles  to  establish  the  new  religion. 
And  when  it  is  remembered  that  John  lived  till  nearly 
the  close  of  this  century,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  means 
of  verifying  every  thing  w^ere  very  abundant. 

Twenty-five  or  thirty  years  after  Polycarp  follows 
Justin  Martyr,  universally  known  in  the  ancient 
church.  He  was  a  convert  from  heathenism  after 
he  had  arrived  at  mature  age,  and  was  distin- 
guished as  a  philosopher,  a  Christian,  and  a  writer. 
Of  his  writings  we  have  remaining  only  —  two 
Apologies  for  the  Christians,  one  addressed  to  the 
Emperor  Titus  Antoninus  Pius,  and  the  other  to  the 
Emperor  Marcus  Antoninus,  and  the  senate  and  people 
of  Rome ;  and  his  Dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew.  We 
find,  however,  in  these,  thirty-five  plain  quotations 
from  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  alone,  and,  in  one  case,  a 
considerable  part  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  in  the 
very  words  of  Matthew.     He  either  quotes,  or  clearly 


LECTURE    IX.  273 

refers  to,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  nearly  all  the 
Epistles,  and  says  expressly  that  the  Revelation  was 
\vritten  by  John.  He  calls  the  books  from  wliich 
he  quotes,  "  Memoirs  composed  by  the  Apostles," 
"  Memoirs  composed  by  the  Apostles  and  their  Com- 
panions,"—  which  description,  the  latter  especially, 
exactly  agrees  with  the  titles  wliich  the  Gospels  and 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  now  bear.  This  manner  of 
reference  "shows  that  the  books  were  perfectly  notori- 
ous, and  that  there  were  no  other  accounts  of  Christ 
then  extant  so  received  and  credited  as  to  make  it 
necessary  to  distinguish  these  from  the  rest."  .Justin 
also  tells  us,  in  his  first  Apology,  that  the  memoirs  of 
the  apostles,  and  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  were 
read  and  expounded  in  the  Christian  assemblies  for 
worship,  wliich  shows  that  the  Gospels  were  at  that 
time  well  known  in  the  world.  To  this  testimony  of 
Justin,  who  sealed  his  belief  in  the  Christian  religion 
with  his  blood,  there  is  no  objection,  except  that  he 
does  not  quote  the  different  writers  by  name;  but 
skepticism  itself  cannot  suppose  that  books  were  read 
and  expounded  in  the  Christian  churches  so  generally 
that  he  should  mention  it  in  an  apology  to  the  emperor, 
and  yet  that  all  trace  and  record  of  those  books  should 
have  been  lost,  and  that  others  should  have  been  fab- 
ricated, and  substituted  in  their  place.  We  find  in 
this  author  almost  a  complete  history  of  Christ ;  and 
yet  he  mentions  only  two  circumstances  which  are  not 
contained  in  our  Gospels. 

After  Justin  Martyr  follows  Tatian,  a  disciple  of 
his.  He  flourished  about  the  year  170,  and  composed 
a  harmony  of  the  Gospels,  which  he  called  "  Diatessa- 
ron,"  —  that  is,  of  the  four,  —  showing  that  there  were 
then  four,  and  only  four.  Gospels. 

35 


274  LECTURE    iX. 

About  this  time,  the  churches  of  France  sent  a  rela- 
tion of  the  sufferings  of  their  martyrs  to  the  churches 
of  Asia  and  Phrygia,  and  the  epistle  is  preserved  by 
Eusebius.  Their  bishop  was  Pothinus,  v/ho  was  then 
ninety  years  old,  so  that  his  testimony  would  join  on 
to  that  of  the  apostles.  In  this  we  find  the  following : 
"  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was  spoken  by  the 
Lord,  that  whosoever  killeth  you  will  think  that  he 
doeth  God  service ; "  with  similar  references  to  Luke 
and  to  the  Acts. 

To  Pothinus,  as  bishop  of  Lyons,  succeeded  Ire- 
nseus,  who  was,  in  his  youth,  a  disciple  of  Polycarp. 
He  wrote  many  works,  but  his  five  books  against 
heresies  are  all  that  remain.  In  these  he  has  shown  a 
full  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures  both  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament.  Being  only  a  century  distant 
from  the  time  of  the  publication  of  the  Gospels,  and 
only  one  step  removed  from  the  apostles,  he  speaks  of 
himself  and  his  contemporaries  as  being  able  to  reckon 
up,  in  all  the  principal  churches,  the  succession  of 
bishops  from  the  first.  He  mentions  the  code  of  the 
New  Testament,  as  well  as  the  Old,  and  calls  the  one, 
as  well  as  the  other,  the  Oracles  of  God.  His  testi- 
mony is  full  and  explicit  to  all  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  except  the  Epistle  to  Philemon,  the  Third 
of  John,  and  the  Epistle  of  Jude.  And  here  we  find, 
for  the  first  time,  what  we  might  now  expect  to  find,  — 
an  appeal  to  the  books  as  the  ground  of  the  Christian 
faith.  "  We  have  not  received,"  says  Irenaeus,  "  the 
knowledge  of  the  way  of  our  salvation  by  any  other 
than  those  by  whom  the  gospel  has  been  brought  to 
us  ;  which  gospel  they  first  preached,  and  afterwards, 
by  the  will  of  God,  committed  to  writing,  that  it  might 


LECTURE    IX.  275 

be  for  time  to  come  the  foundation  and  pillar  of  our 
faith.  For,  after  our  Lord  rose  from  the  dead,  and 
thej  were  endued  from  above  with  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  coming  down  upon  them,  they  received  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  all  things.  They  then  went 
forth  to  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  declaring  to  men  the 
blessing  of  heavenly  peace,  having  all  of  them,  and 
every  one  alike,  the  gospel  of  God.  Matthew,  then, 
among  the  Jews,  wrote  a  Gospel  in  their  own  language, 
while  Peter  and  Paul  were  preaching  the  gospel  at 
Rome,  and  founding  a  church  there.  And,  after  their 
exit,  Mark,  also  the  disciple  and  interpreter  of  Peter, 
delivered  to  us  in  writing  the  things  that  had  been 
preached  by  Peter;  and  Luke,  the  companion  of  Paul, 
put  down  in  a  book  the  gospel  preached  by  him. 
Afterwards,  John,  the  disciple  of  the  Lord,  who  also 
leaned  upon  his  breast,  he  likewise  published  a  Gospel 
while  he  dwelt  at  Ephesus,  in  Asia."  We  could 
certainly  wish  nothing  more  explicit  than  this ;  and 
there  are  other  passages  not  less  so.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark,  also,  that,  though  Irenaeus  quotes  the 
Scriptures  so  largely,  he  does  not,  in  any  single  in- 
stance, refer  to  any  work  now  known,  and  supposed 
to  be  spurious. 

After  Irena^us,  we  come  to  Athenagoras,  about  the 
year  180,  and  to  Theophilus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  and 
to  Clement  of  Alexandria,  an  author  of  note,  who 
quotes  from  almost  all  the  writers  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament so  largely,  that  the  citations  would  fill  a 
considerable  volume.  He  gives  us  an  account  of 
the  order  in  which  the  Gospels  were  written,  and 
then  says  that  he  received  the  account  from  presby- 
ters of  more  ancient  times. 


276  LECTURE    IX. 

About  the  same  time  with  Clement  Hved  Tertullian, 
a  presbyter  of  the  church  of  Carthage,  whose  testimo- 
ny is  very  full  and  explicit.  After  enumerating  the 
apostolical  churches,  he  says,  "  I  say,  then,  that  with 
them,  but  not  with  them  only  which  are  apostolical, 
but  with  all  who  have  fellowship  with  them  in  the 
same  faith,  is  that  Gospel  of  Luke  received,  from  its 
first  publication,  which  we  so  zealously  maintain." 
He  adds,  "  The  same  authority  of  the  apostolical 
churches  will  support  the  other  Gospels  which  we  have 
from  them —  I  mean  John's  and  Matthew's  —  although 
that  likewise  which  Mark  published  may  be  said  to 
be  Peter's,  whose  interpreter  Mark  was."  In  another 
place,  Tertullian  says  that  the  three  other  Gospels 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  churches  from  the  begin- 
ning. And  this  evidence  appears  not  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  publication  of  the 
books. 

With  Tertullian  I  close  my  citations  from  the  au- 
thors of  the  second  century,  of  whom  it  has  been 
said  with  truth,  so  numerous  are  their  quotations 
from  the  New  Testament,  that,  if  that  book  had 
been  lost,  it  might  be  almost  compiled  anew  from 
these   citations. 

And  here  we  may  remark,  with  Paley,  "the  wide 
extent  through  which  the  reputation  of  the  Gospels 
and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  had  spread,  and  the  per- 
fect consent,  on  this  point,  of  distant  and  independent 
societies.  It  is  now  only  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  since  Christ  was  crucified,  and  within  this  period, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  apostolical  fathers,  we  have 
Justin  Martyr  of  Neapolis,  Theophilus  at  Antioch, 
Irenaeus  in  France,  Clement  in  Alexandria,  and  Ter- 


LECTURE    IX.  277 

tullian  at  Carthage,  quoting  the  same  books  of  histori- 
cal Scriptures,  and,  1  may  say,  quoting  them  alone." 
These  men  too  —  which  is  an  important  point — being 
bishops  and  presbyters,  their  testimony  involves  that 
of  large  bodies  of  men.  It  gives  us  the  authority  of 
common  consent.  And  certainly  such  an  authority 
and  assent,  extending  over  thousands  of  miles,  could 
never  have  been  gained  to  books  esteemed  as  these 
were,  except  on  the  best  grounds.  There  are  no 
others  that  can  be  placed  at  all  in  competition  with 
them  in  this  respect. 

It  has  been  usual  to  continue  citations  down  as 
far  as  the  fourth  century ;  but  can  this  be  necessarj^  ? 
I  think  not,  especially  as  they  now  multiply  upon 
us  on  every  side.  It  has  also  been  usual,  and  is, 
perhaps,  more  strictly  logical,  to  trace  the  testimony 
upward  ;  but,  in  the  present  state  of  this  argument, 
that  cannot  be  important. 

But  I  observe,  •  secondly,  not  only  were  these  wri- 
tings thus  quoted,  but,  when  they  were,  it  was  with 
peculiar  titles  and  marks  of  respect.  Thus  Theophi- 
lus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  who  flourished  a  little  more 
than  a  century  after  the  books  were  written,  says, 
"  These  things  the  Holy  Scriptures  teach  us,  and  all 
who  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  among  whom 
John  says,  'In  the  beginning  was  the  Word.'"  Ori- 
gen  says,  "  That  our  religion  teaches  us  to  seek  after 
wisdom,  shall  be  shown  both  out  of  the  ancient  Jewish 
Scriptures,  which  we  also  use,  and  out  of  those  written 
since  Jesus,  which  are  believed  in  the  churches  to  be 
divine." 

These  writings,  moreover,  as  has  already  been 
statedj  were   early  read  in  the    public  assemblies  of 


278  LECTURE    IX. 

Christians.  Justin  Martyr,  who  wrote  only  about  one 
hundred  years  after  the  crucifixion,  giving  an  account 
of  Christian  worship,  has  this  remarkable  passage  : 
"  The  memoirs  of  the  apostles,  or  the  writings  of  the 
prophets,  are  read  according  as  the  time  allows,  and, 
when  the  reader  has  ended,  the  president  makes  a 
discourse."  This  passage  is  of  great  weight,  because 
Justin  speaks  here  of  the  general  usage  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  and  because  he  speaks  of  it  as  a  long- 
established  custom.  That  by  "  memoirs  of  the  apos- 
tles "  he  means  our  Gospels,  is  evident,  because  he 
tells  us,  in  another  place,  that  they  are  what  are  called 
"  Gospels,"  and  because  he  has  made  numerous  quo- 
tations from  them,  and  from  no  others. 

At  what  time  our  present  Scriptures  were  collected 
into  a  distinct  volume  is  not  certainly  known;  but  there 
is  no  doubt  it  was  very  early,  and  that  this  volume  was 
ranked  from  the  first  with  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Polycarp,  a  companion  of  tlTe  apostles, 
says,  "  I  trust  ye  are  well  exercised  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, as  in  these  Scriptures  it  is  said,  'Be  ye  angry 
and  sin  not.'  "  This  passage,  thus  quoted  by  Polycarp, 
shows  that,  in  his  time,  there  were  Christian  waitings 
distinguished  as  the  "  Holy  Scriptures."  This  is  in  per- 
fect accordance  with' what  we  should  expect  after  the 
recognition,  by  Peter,  of  the  writings  of  Paul  as  a  part 
of  the  Scriptures.  Polycarp  has  also  quoted  in  the 
same  way  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  the  Acts,  ten  Epis- 
tles of  Paul,  the  First  of  Peter,  and  the  First  of  John. 
Justin  Martyr,  also,  in  the  "  Apology"  of  which  I  have 
already  spoken,  (which  was  written  about  thirty  years 
after  the  Epistle  of  Polycarp,)  says,  "  For  the  apostles, 
in  the  memoirs  composed  by  them,  which  are  called 


LECTUllE    IX.  279 

*  Gospels,'  have  thus  delivered  it,  that  Jesus  commanded 
them  to  take  bread  and  give  thanks/' 

I  speak  of  this  subject,  because  it  has  been  said  that 
no  such  book  as  the  New  Testament  existed  before  the 
fourth  century,  and  because  our  evidence  on  this  point 
stands  just  as  we  could  wish  —  that  is,  it  stands  just 
as  we  should  supjiose  it  would  from  the  nature  of  the 
case.  Here  are  twenty-seven  separate  pieces  written 
within  the  space  of  sixty  years.  It  is  not  to  be  su])- 
posed  that  all  these  pieces  should  be  [)ossessed  at  once 
by  all  the  churches,  or  that  there  should  be  at  once  a 
perfect  agreement  in  regard  to  them  all.  We  should 
expect  that  copies  would  be  taken,  and  collections 
made,  of  those  writings  concerning  which  there  was 
no  question,  and  that  these  would  be  quoted  and  inci- 
dentally referred  to,  precisely  as  our  books  are,  till  some 
question  was  raised  about  the  introduction  of  another 
book,  or  about  the  authority  or  authenticity  of  any 
part  of  it.  Then  we  should  expect  to  jfind  the  grounds 
stated  on  which  the  books  were  received,  and  formal 
catalogues  made  out  of  such  as  were  received.  If, 
then,  by  saying  that  there  was  no  such  book  as  the 
New  Testament  before  the  fourth  century,  it  is  meant 
that  the  canon,  as  it  is  called,  was  not  formally  set- 
tled by  a  council  till  that  time,  it  is  true  ;  but  if  it  be 
meant,  as  is  insinuated,  that  the  writings  were  then 
first  published,  no  man  can  make  such  an  assertion, 
except  from  the  grossest  ignorance,  or  as  a  wilful 
falsehood. 

The  truth  is,  that,  in  the  first  century,  we  have,  from 
the  contemporaries  of  the  apostles,  more  than  two 
hundred  quotations,  and  allusions  to  our  sacred  books, 
in  which   we   have    an  incidental    and  unintentional 


2S0  LECTURE    IX. 

testimony,  more  satisfactory  than  any  formal  testimony 
could  be;  and,  in  these  quotations  and  allusions,  nine- 
teen or  twenty  of  our  present  books  are  recognized. 
In  the  second  century,  we  find  the  testimony  more 
express  and  full,  and  the  quotations  so  numerous,  that 
a  large  part  of  the  New  Testament  might  be  collected 
from  them.  Of  this  age  there  are  thirty-six  writers 
of  whose  works  some  part  has  come  down  to  us.  In 
the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  we  have  more  than  a 
hundred  authors  whose  works  testify  to  the  authen- 
ticity of  these  books.  During  these  two  centuries, 
catalogues  of  the  authentic  works  were  expressly 
drawn  up,  harmonies  were  formed,  versions  were  made 
into  many  languages,  and  the  canon  was  fully  settled. 
In  settling  the  canon,  we  find,  from  Eusebius,  A.  D. 
315,  that  there  were  seven  books  concerning  which 
there  was  some  hesitation,  and  the  grounds  of  the 
doubts  are  fully  given.  Eusebius  begins  his  enumer- 
ation of  Scriptures  universally  acknowledged  in  the 
following  manner :  "  In  the  first  place  are  to  be  ranked 
the  sacred  four  Gospels ;  then  the  book  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles ;  after  that  are  to  be  reckoned  the  Epis- 
tles of  Paul  ;  in  the  next  place,  that  called  the  First 
Epistle  of  John,  and  the  Epistle  of  Peter,  are  to  be 
esteemed  authentic ;  after  this  is  to  be  placed  the 
Revelation  of  John,  about  which  we  shall  observe  the 
different  opinions  at  proper  seasons.  Of  the  contro- 
verted, yet  well  known,  or  approved  by  the  most,  are 
that  called  the  Epistle  of  James,  and  that  of  Jude,  and 
the  Second  of  Peter,  and  the  Second  and  Third  of  John, 
whether  written  by  the  evangelist,  or  by  another  of 
the  same  name."  Concerning  these  last,  however,  all 
doubt  was  gradually  removed,  so  that,  by  the  time  of 


LECTURE    IX.  281 

Jerome  and  Augustine,  A.  D.  342-420,  many  cata- 
logues are  given,  including  all  our  present  books,  and 
none  other. 

While,  therefore,  it  appears  that  the  writings  of  the 
New  Testament  were,  some  of  them,  collected  into  a 
volume  in  the  apostolical  times,  under  the  name  of  the 
Gospels  and  the  Apostles ;  w  hile  the  references  to  this 
volume,  during  the  second  century,  are  almost  number- 
less; while  no  doubt  ever  arose  respecting  the  mass  of 
them,  —  still  the  book  which  we  now  receive  was  not, 
in  all  its  parts,  formally  agreed  upon,  in  consequence 
of  a  careful  examination  of  ancient  testimony,  till 
between  three  and  four  hundred  years  after  the  birth 
of  Christ.  It  will  be  remembered,  however,  that  if 
every  part  of  the  New  Testament,  concerning  which 
there  was  then  dispute,  were  blotted  out,  the  argu- 
ment for  the  truth  of  Christianity  would  not  be  in  the 
least  invalidated.  There  is,  therefore,  direct  evidence, 
as  perfect  as  the  nature  of  the  case  admits,  that  those 
writings  on  which  we  depend  for  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  religion  have  existed,  and  were  received 
without   doubt,   from   the  very  first. 

So  full  and  unexceptionable  is  the  testimony  thus 
given  by  early  writers,  that  it  would  seem,  in  the 
absence  of  any  thing  to  contradict  it,  or  to  throw  over 
it  the  slightest  discredit,  that  further  evidence  could 
not  be  needed.  Indeed,  if  we  were  to  stop  here,  we 
should  have  a  body  of  evidence  for  the  authenticity  of 
these  writings  such  as  can  be  adduced  in  favor  of  no 
others  of  equal  antiquity.  The  writings  of  Cicero  are 
quoted  by  Quintilian,  which  shows  that  they  were  then 
extant  and  ascribed  to  him.  But  the  works  of  Cicero 
excited  no  controversy,  they  gave  rise  to  no  general 

36 


282  LECTURE    IX. 

opposition,  they  created  no  sects ;  hence  we  have  no 
means  of  knowing  how  those  works  were  regarded  by 
enemies,  or  by  rival  parties,  appealing  to  their  au- 
thority. This,  when  it  can  be  obtained,  is  the  very 
highest  kind  of  evidence*  and,  in  respect  to  the  Chris- 
tian Scriptures,  it  is  most  full  and  satisfactory.  The 
heretical  writers  do,  indeed,  sometimes  deny  that  the 
apostle  or  writer  is  an  infallible  authority  ;  but  they 
never  deny  that  the  books  were  written  by  those  to 
whom  they  were  ascribed.  Thus  the  Cerinthians  and 
the  Ebionites,  who  sprang  up  while  St.  John  was  yet 
living,  wished  to  retain  the  Mosaic  law,  and  hence 
rejected  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  while  they  retained  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew.  And  Marcion,  A.  D.  130,  who 
rejected  the  Old  Testament,  and  was  excommunicated, 
though  greatly  incensed,  and  though  he  speaks  dispar- 
agingly of  several  of  the  books,  yet  nowhere  intimates 
that  they  were  forgeries.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
all  the  ancient  sects. 

We  have,  also,  the  indirect  testimony  of  the  enemies 
of  Christianity  —  as  Celsus,  Porphyry,  and  Julian.  Of 
these,  Celsus  flourished  only  about  a  hundred  years 
after  the  Gospels  were  published,  and  was  an  acute 
and  bitter  adversary ;  and  it  seems  quite  impossible 
that  any  one  of  them,  much  more  the  whole,  should 
have  been  forged,  and  yet  he  not  know  or  suspect  it. 
He  attacks  the  books,  he  speaks  of  contradictions  and 
difficulties  in  them,  but  he  hints  no  suspicion  that  they 
were  forged.  Indeed,  he  claims  the  writings,  for  he 
says,  "These  things,  then,  we  have  alleged  to  you  out 
of  your  own  writings,  not  needing  any  other  weapons." 
In  Porphyry,  born  A.  D.  233,  (the  most  sensible  and 
severe   adversary   of  Christianity   that   antiquity  can 


LECTURE   IX.  283 

produce,)  \vc  find  no  trace  of  any  suspicion  that  the 
Christian  writings  were  not  auth(Mitic,  tliough  he  pro- 
nounces the  prophecy  of  Daniel  a  forgery.  Por})hyry 
did  not  even  deny  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  history.  He 
admitted  that  the  miracles  were  performed  by  Christ, 
but  imputed  them  to  magic,  which  he  said  he  learned 
in  Egypt.  Julian,  commonly  called  the  Apostate, 
flourished  from  A.  D.  331  to  363.  He  quotes  the  four 
Gospels  and  the  Acts,  and  nowhere  gives  any  intima- 
tion that  he  suspected  the  whole,  or  any  part  of  them, 
to  be  forgeries. 

Another  source  of  evidence  is  to  be  found  in  ancient 
versions  and  manuscripts.  The  Syriac  version  was 
probably  made  early  in  the  second  century,  and  the 
first  Latin  versions  almost  as  early.  Of  course  the 
New  Testament  must  have  existed,  and  been  received 
as  the  standard  of  Christian  truth,  before  those  versions 
were  made.  Of  ancient  manuscripts,  containing  the 
New  Testament  or  parts  thereof,  there  are  several 
thousands.  About  five  hundred  of  the  most  important 
have  been  collated  with  great  care.  Many  of  them 
are  of  great  antiquity.  The  Codex  Vaticanus  is  be- 
lieved, on  very  satisfactory  evidence,  to  be  of  the 
fourth  century,  and  the  Codex  Alexandrinus,  of  the 
fifth,  —  perhaps  both  much  earlier.  Thus  these 
manuscripts  connect  with  manuscripts  compared  by 
Jerome  and  Eusebius,  A.  D.  315-420,  who  pre- 
pared critical  editions  of  the  New  Testament  from 
manuscripts  then  ancient.  The  prodigious  number 
of  these  manuscripts,  the  distant  countries  whence 
they  were  collected,  and  the  identity  of  their  con- 
tents with  the  quotations  of  the  fathers  of  dif- 
ferent  ages,   place    the  New  Testament   incompara- 


284  LECTURE    IX. 

blj  above    all   other    ancient  works    in    point  of  au- 
thenticity. 

Is  there,  then,  we  are  ready  to  ask,  any  kind  of 
external  evidence  conceivable,  w  hich  is  wanting  to  our 
sacred  books  ? 

But,  strong  as  is  the  external  proof,  it  hardly  equals 
that  which  is  to  be  derived  from  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  and  from  internal  evidence. 

For,  if  these  writings  are  not  authentic,  they  must 
be  forgeries;  and  they  are  of  such  a  character,  and 
purport  to  have  been  written  under  such  circumstances, 
as  to  render  a  forgery  of  them  impossible.  Here,  for 
example,  are  no  fewer  than  nine  letters  which  claim 
to  have  been  written  to  numerous  bodies  of  men,  and 
received  by  them;  and  can  any  man  believe  that  such 
letters,  often  containing  severe  reproof,  could  have 
been  received  and  read,  as  we  know  these  were,  by 
the  early  Christians,  if  they  were  forgeries  ?  "  Come 
now,"  says  Tertullian,  —  born  only  sixty  years  after  the 
death  of  St.  John,  —  "  come  now,  thou  who  wilt  exer- 
cise thy  curiosity  more  profitably  in  the  business  of 
thy  salvation,  run  through  the  apostolical  churches  in 
which  the  very  chairs  of  the  apostles  still  preside,  in 
which  their  authentic  letters  are  recited,  sounding  forth 
the  voice  and  representing  the  countenance  of  each." 
Can  any  man  suppose  that  letters  thus  spoken  of  at 
that  early  day  could  be  forged  ?  Besides,  when  could 
they  have  been  forged  ?  Not,  certainly,  during  the 
lives  of  the  apostles,  for  then  they  would  have  confuted 
them ;  and,  after  their  death,  it  is  morally  impossible 
such  letters  should  have  been  received  as  from  them 
by  any  body  of  Christians. 

It  is  to  be  added,  also,  that  Christianity  sprang  up  in 


LECTURE    IX.  285 

the  midst  of  opposition,  keen-sighted  and  relentless. 
It  was  opposed  by  Heathenism  and  by  Judaism,  and, 
moreover,  there  were  always  in  its  own  bosom  some 
who  were  false-hearted  and  ready  to  betray  it.  For 
more  than  three  hundred  years  it  was  constantly  the 
subject  of  violent  and  bloody  persecutions;  and,  in  such 
circumstances,  it  is  morally  impossible  tiiat  twenty- 
seven  books  should  be  forged,  and  imposed  as  au- 
thentic upon  both  friends  and  foes,  and  no  one,  for  the 
first  four  hundred  years,  hint  a  suspicion  of  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  most  of  the  books.  When  Celsus 
reproached  the  Christians  with  dissensions,  in  the 
second  century,  Origen  admits  the  truth  of  the  ac- 
cusation, but  says,  nevertheless,  that  the  four  Gospels 
were  received  by  the  whole  church  of  God  under 
heaven. 

Again;  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament  is 
confirmed  by  the  language  and  style  in  which  it  is 
written.  It  could  have  been  written  only  by  men  who 
were  born  Jews,  and  who  lived  before  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem.  Every  where  their  Jewish  prejudices 
and  habits  of  thought  appear,  and  the  references  to  Je- 
rusalem and  the  temple,  as  then  standing,  are  so  blended 
with  the  whole  narrative,  that  we  feel  it  impossible 
it  should  not  have  been  written  at  that  time.  This, 
however,  is  still  more  obvious  from  the  peculiar 
laniruage  in  which  the  New  Testament  is  written. 
Greek  was  then  a  kind  of  universal  language ;  but 
the  Greek  spoken  in  Palestine  was  not  the  Greek  of 
Attica.  It  was  Hebraic  Greek  —  that  is,  Greek  mixed 
with  the  peculiar  dialect  of  Hebrew  then  in  use  in 
Palestine  ;  and  in  such  Greek  are  the  Gospels  written. 
After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  this  peculiar  dialect 


286  LECTURE    IX. 

ceased.  Probably  there  was  not  a  man  living,  after  the 
death  of  the  apostle  John,  who  could  have  blended 
the  peculiar  elements  of  language  which  we  find  in 
the  New  Testament.  But,  if  these  books  were  written 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  they  must  be 
authentic,  because  no  books  could  have  been  forged  in 
the  names  of  the  apostles,  while  they  were  yet  living, 
and  have  been  undetected. 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  too,  that  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament  were  receiv-ed  and  judged  of  by  the  churches 
separately.  The  Gospel  of  Matthew  was  received  by 
the  churches  on  its  own  merits,  and  the  question  of  its 
reception  was  not  embarrassed  by  that  of  any  other 
book.  So  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  church  at  Rome 
was  judged  of  as  authentic  by  that  church,  without  any 
reference  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  If,  there- 
fore, the  New  Testament  is  a  forgery,  it  is  not  an  in- 
stance of  a  single  successful  forgery,  but  of  twenty- 
seven  separate  ones,  imposed  upon  intelligent  men 
whose  interests  were  all  involved  in  detecting  the 
fraud.  If,  now,  we  consider  how  seldom  literary  for- 
geries are  undertaken  —  that  they  are,  in  fact,  nearly  or 
quite  unprecedented,  unless  they  come  out  under  the 
shadow  of  some  great  name  —  that  no  possible  motive 
can  be  assigned  for  the  forgery  of  such  books  ;  —  if  we 
consider  the  difficulty  of  it  in  any  case,  and  the  moral 
impossibility  of  it  in  reference  to  books  of  such  pre- 
tensions, and  that  have,  in  fact,  commanded  the  rever- 
ence of  the  civilized  world,  —  I  think  we  shall  feel  that 
twenty-seven  successful  forgeries,  within  the  space  of 
sixty  years,  is  a  supposition  not  to  be  entertained  for  a 
moment. 

Once   more ;  the  reasons  which  render  the  authen- 


LECTURE    IX.  287 

ticity  of  a  work  suspicious  arc  thus  laid  down  l)y 
Micliaelis :  1.  Wlieu  doubts  have  been  entertained, 
from  its  first  appearance,  whether  it  was  the  work  of 
its  reputed  author.  2.  When  the  immediate  friends 
of  the  author  have  denied  it  to  be  his.  3.  When  a 
long  series  of  years  has  elapsed,  after  his  death,  in 
which  the  book  was  unknown,  and  in  which  it  must 
have  been  mentioned  or  quoted,  had  it  been  in  exist- 
ence. 4.  When  the  style  is  different  from  his  other 
writings,  or,  in  case  no  others  remain,  from  what  might 
be  reasonably  expected.  5.  When  events  are  re- 
corded which  hajipened  later  than  the  time  of  tlic 
pretended  author.  6.  When  opinions  are  advanced 
contradictory  to  those  which  he  is  known  to  have 
advanced  in  other  writings.  Of  these  marks  of  spuri- 
ousness,  not  one  can  be  attached  to  a  single  book  of 
the  New  Testament. 

I  observe,  finally,  that  this  evidence  is,  if  possible, 
heightened  by  the  contrast  in  all  respects  between  our 
books  and  those  which  have  been  regarded  as  spurious. 
The  fact  that  such  books  existed  is  sometimes  made 
use  of  to  create  the  impression  that  they  were  once 
of  nearly  equal  authority  with  ours,  and  that  there  was 
difficulty  and  uncertainty  in  making  the  distinction. 
Nothing  can  be  farther  from  the  truth.  For,  1.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  those  spurious  or  apocryphal  books 
existed  during  the  first  century  ;  indeed,  they  all  were 
manifestly  forgeries  of  a  later  age.  2.  No  Christian 
history,  besides  our  Gospels  and  the  Acts,  is  quoted 
by  any  writer  now  known  within  three  hundred  years 
after  the  birth  of  Christ.  3.  None  of  these  apocry- 
phal writings  were  read  in  the  churches.  4.  None 
of  them  were  ever  admitted  to  the  volume  of  the  New 


288  LECTURE    IX. 

Testament.  5.  Nor  do  they  appear  in  any  catalogue 
6.  Nor  were  they  alleged  by  different  parties,  in 
their  controversies,  as  of  authority.  7.  Nor  were  they 
the  subjects  of  commentaries,  or  versions,  or  exposi- 
tions. 8.  Nor  were  they  ever  received  by  Christians 
of  after  ages,  but  were  almost  universally  reprobated 
by  them. 

And,  now,  is  not  this  point  proved  ?  I  suppose  I 
have  been  uninteresting ;  but  is  not  the  point  proved  ? 
Is  it  not  fully  established  that  these  books  were  writ- 
ten by  the  men  whose  names  they  bear,  and  at  the 
time  when  they  purport  to  have  been  written  ? 

I  close  by  a  very  brief  reference  to  a  single  point 
more,  which  properly  belongs  here.  How  do  we  know 
that  the  integrity  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
has  been  preserved  ?  I  answer,  first,  we  know  it  from 
the  nature  of  the  case.  Augustine,  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, reasoning  with  a  heretic,  puts  this  well.  "If  any 
one,"  says  he,  "  should  charge  you  with  having  inter- 
polated some  texts  alleged  by  you,  would  you  not 
immediately  answer,  that  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  do 
such  a  thing  in  books  read  by  all  Christians  —  and 
that,  if  any  such  attempt  had  been  made  by  you,  it 
would  have  been  presently  discerned  and  defeated, 
by  comparing  the  ancient  copies?  Well,  then,  for  the 
same  reason  that  the  Scriptures  cannot  be  corrupted 
by  you,  they  cannot  be  corrupted  by  any  other  peo- 
ple." We  know  the  same  thing,  secondly,  from  the 
agreement  of  our  books  with  the  quotations  in  the 
works  of  the  early  Christian  fathers.  These  quota- 
tions are  so  abundant  that  almost  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament   might  be   gathered  from   them ;  and 


LECTURE    IX:  289 

jet,  except  in  six  or  seven  verses,  there  is  an  agreement 
in  all  material  respects  between  those  quotations  and 
the  corresponding  parts  of  our  books.  We  know  it, 
thirdly,  from  the  entire  agreement  of  our  books  with 
ancient  versions.  The  old  Sjriac  version,  called  Pesli- 
ito,  was  certainly  in  use  before  the  close  of  the  second 
century.  This  was  not  known  in  Europe  before  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  came  down  by  a 
line  perfectly' independent  of  that  by  which  our  Greek 
Testament  was  received;  yet,  when  the  two  came 
to  be  compared,  tlu;  difterence  was  altogether  unim- 
portant. Is  it  possible  that  evidence  should  be  more 
satisfactory  ? 

The  subject  of  various  readings  was  at  one  time  so 
presented  as  to  alarm  and  disquiet  those  not  acquainted 
w'nh  the  facts.  When  a  person  hears  it  stated  that,  in 
the  collation  of  the  manuscripts  for  Griesbach's  edi- 
tion of  the  New  Testament,  as  many  as  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  various  readings  were  discovered, 
he  is  ready  to  suppose  that  every  thing  must  be  in  a 
state  of  uncertainty.  A  statement  of  the  facts  relieves 
every  difficulty.  The  truth  is,  that  not  one  in  a  thou- 
sand makes  any  perceptible,  or  at  least  important  vari- 
ation in  the  meaning ;  that  they  consist  almost  entirely 
of  the  small  and  obvious  mistakes  of  transcribers,  such 
as  the  omission  or  transposition  of  letters,  errors  in 
grammar,  in  the  use  of  one  word  for  another  of  a 
similar  meaning,  and  in  changing  the  position  of 
words  in  a  sentence.  But,  by  all  the  omissions,  and 
all  the  additions,  contained  in  all  the  manuscripts,  no 
fact,  no  doctrine,  no  duty  prescribed,  in  our  authorized 
version,  is  rendered  either  obscure  or  doubtful. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  rubbish  of  antiquity  did 

37 


290  LECTURE   IX. 

gather  around  these  pillars  of  our  evidence.  The  keen 
eye  of  the  infidel  saw  it,  and  he  hoped  to  show  that 
they  rested  upon  rubbish  alone.  But,  like  every  sim- 
ilar attempt,  at  whatever  point  directed,  a  full  exami- 
nation has  served  only  to  show  how  firm  is  the  rock 
upon  which  that  church  rests  which  is  "  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth." 


LECTURE   X. 


CREDIBILITY    OF    THE    BOOKS    OF    THE    NEW  TESTA3IENT. 

Our  subject  this  evening;,  as  will  have  been  anti- 
cipated, is  the  credibility  of  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament ;  and  I  proceed  directly  to  the  discussion. 
This  question  is  purely  one  of  historical  evidence  ;  and 
if  there  is  left  for  me  very  little  that  is  new,  either  in 
the  matter  or  in  the  manner  of  presenting  it,  I  shall 
yet  hope  for  the  attention  of  the  audience,  from  the 
important  place  which  this  point  holds,  and  always 
must,  in  the  Christian  argument. 

And  the  first  consideration  which  I  adduce  in  favor 
of  the  credibility  of  these  books  is  their  authenticity. 
It  was  because  I  regarded  every  testimony  adduced, 
in  the  last  lecture,  to  prove  the  authenticity  of  the 
gospel  histories  as  also  a  testimony  to  their  truth, 
that  I  dwelt  so  fully  on  that  subject.  The  fathers 
did  not  quote  so  largely  from  those  books  because 
they  were  written  by  apostolical  men,  but  because 
they  regarded  them  as  true,  and  as  having  an  au- 
thority paramount  to  all  others.  The  testimony  of 
antiquity,  therefore,  thus  given  to  the  authenticity  of 
these  books,  is  equivalent  to  its  testimony  to  the 
reality  of  the  facts  which  they  contain. 


292  LECTURE   X. 

Moreover,  when  men  publish  an  account  of  facts 
under  then*  own  names,  especially  of  facts  that  are 
within  the  immediate  knowledge  of  the  most  of  their 
readers,  and  facts,  too,  that  have  e.xcited  great  atten- 
tion, they  must  either  publish  what  is  substantially 
true,  or  wilfully,  and  without  motive,  sacrifice  both 
character  and  reputation.  There  is  no  instance  on 
record  of  the  publication  by  any  one,  under  his  own 
name,  of  an  account  purporting  to  be  of  facts  that 
were  public,  and  recent,  and  concerning  which  a 
deep  interest  was  felt  by  the  community,  which  was 
not  mainly  true.  But  here  are  four  men  who  claim 
to  have  been  witnesses  of  most  of  the  events  which 
tl]ey  relate,  or,  if  not,  to  have  had  a  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  them.  These  events  must  have  been  known, 
at  the  time  the  books  were  published,  to  thousands 
of  others,  both  friends  and  foes,  as  well  as  to  them. 
Nothing  could  have  prevented  the  instant  detection 
of  any  falsehood ;  and  yet  these  men  published  their 
histories  at  the  time,  in  the  face  of  the  world,  and 
on  the  spot  where  the  transactions  took  place.  This 
consideration  alone  ought  to  be  decisive,  and  in  any 
other  case  it  would  be. 

But,  secondly,  these  books  are  credible  because  the 
authors  of  them  had  the  best  possible  means  of  know- 
ing the  facts  which  they  state.  For  the  most  part, 
they  had  a  personal  knowledge  of  them.  Compare 
our  evidence,  in  this  respect,  with  that  for  other  an- 
cient events.  The  main  facts  were  not  such  as  were 
concealed  in  cabinets,  or  in  the  intrigues  of  a  court, 
l)ut  were  few,  and  such  as  all  might  know'.  But  of 
the  events  of  the  life  of  Alexander,  we  have  no  contem- 
porary historian ;  and  yet  they  are  not  doubted.     Of 


LECTURE    X.  293 

how  few  of  the  events  in  the  histories  of  Livy,  or  of 
Tacitus,  had  thev  personal  knowledge  !  ^Vith  liow 
few  of  the  men,  whose  lives  he  wrote,  hiid  Phitarch 
personal  acquaintance!  In  some  cases,  indeed,  —  as 
in  the  account  of  the  Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand,  or 
the  Commentaries  of  Caesar,  —  we  have  the  story  of  a 
person  who  was  })resent,  cuid  saw  va  hat  he  narrates ; 
and  no  one  can  fail  to  feel  that  tlie  eredibiliiy  of  those 
accounts  is  greatly  increased  by  that  circumstance. 
In  these  cases,  however,  we  have  but  a  single  wit- 
ness, and  the  writers  are  the  heroes  of  their  own 
story  ;  and  still  these  writings  are  received  witii  en- 
tire confidence.     And  this   leads  me  to  observe, 

Thirdlv,  tliat  the  events  recorded  in  our  books  are 
worthy  of  credit  from  the  number  of  witnesses.  To 
put  this  in  its  true  light,  let  us  suppose  that  there 
should  now  be  discovered,  among  the  ruins  of  Hercu- 
laneum,  the  writings  of  an  officer  and  companion  of 
Caesar,  giving  an  account  of  the  same  campaigns  and 
battles.  Let  us  suppose  that  there  was  a  substantial 
agreement,  but  such  incidental  differences  as  to  show 
that  the  writings  were  entirely  independent  of  each 
other;  then,  if  we  had  before  been  inclined  to  call 
the  whole  a  fiction,  or  to  attribute  any  thing  to  the 
ignorance,  or  the  prejudices,  or  the  vanity,  of  Caesar, 
we  should  feel  all  our  doubts  removed  on  those  points 
in  which  the  accounts  agreed.  And  if,  after  this,  we 
should  still  find  another  independent  manuscript,  and 
still  another,  differing  entirely  in  style  and  general 
manner,  and  yet  agreeing  in  regard  to  the  facts,  — 
if,  moreover,  there  should  be  found  letters  written 
in  that  day  incidentally  confirming  these  accounts 
by  many  allusions  and  undesigned  coincidences,  —  we 


294  LECTURE   X. 

should  feel  that  historical  evidence  could  not  go  far- 
ther, and  that  skepticism  would  be  preposterous.  If 
events  thus  attested  are  not  to  be  believed,  it  will 
not  be  for  want  of  evidence.  If  they  are  not  to  be 
believed,  no  ancient  history  can  be;  for  there  is  no 
one  for  which  we  have  any  thing  like  this  amount  of 
evidence.  But  all  this  evidence  we  have  for  the  facts 
of  the  gospel.  The  fact,  that  the  four  Gospels  and 
the  Acts  are  bound  uj)  together,  is  not  to  be  permit- 
ted to  weaken  their  force  as  separate  testimonies. 
This  is  as  far  as  historical  testimony  can  go  with 
respect  to  ordinary  events  ;  but  the  facts  of  Chris- 
tianity are  of  such  a  character  that  even  this  may, 
and  does,  receive  additional  confirmation.  If  Caesar's 
wars  had  given  rise  to  parties,  and  these  different 
parties  had  all  appealed  to  these  writings  as  of  un- 
doubted authority,  and  if,  moreover,  we  had,  at  no 
distant  dav,  the  distinct  admission  of  the  enemies  of 
Caesar  that  these  books  were  trustworthy  as  to  mat- 
ters of  fact,  then  I  think  we  can  conceive  of  nothing 
that  could  be  added  ;  and  all  this  we  have  in  favor 
of  the  facts  of  the  New  Testament.  If  we  lay  aside 
all  consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  events,  and  look 
at  the  evidence  alone,  we  shall  see  that  it  has  all  the 
force  of  which  historical  evidence,  as  such,  is  capable. 

Still  I  observe,  fourthly,  that  this  evidence  is  pow- 
erfully confirmed  by  the  peculiar  testimony  which  was 
given  by  their  authors  to  the  truth  of  these  books. 
To  state  one  of  the  fundamental  propositions  of  Paley  : 
"  There  is  satisfactory  evidence  that  many,  professing 
to  be  original  witnesses  of  the  Christian  miracles, 
passed  their  lives  in  labors,  dangers,  and  sufferings, 
voluntarily  undergone  in  attestation  of  the   accounts 


LECTURE    X.  295 

which  they  delivered,  and  solely  in  consequence  of 
their  belief  of  those  accounts ;  and  that  they  also  sub- 
mitted, from  the  same  motives,  to  new  rules  of  con- 
duct." Into  the  proof  that  they  did  thus  labor  and 
suffer  Paley  enters  at  large.  But  it  is  so  obvious  that 
men  who,  in  that  day,  should  attempt  to  propagate  an 
exclusive  religion,  that  was  entirely  opposed  both  to 
Judaism  and  heathenism,  and  also  to  the  natural  pas- 
sions and  inclinations  of  men,  would  be  obliged  to 
undergo  labor  and  suffering  in  proportion  to  their  sin- 
cerity and  earnestness,  that  it  seems  to  me  scarcely  to 
need  proof.  Then  the  idea  of  this  is  so  much  implied 
in  the  whole  narrative,  and  regarded  as  a  matter  of 
course, — it  is  so  much  taken  for  granted  in  the  exhor- 
tations, and  promises,  and  consolations,  given  to  the 
disciples  by  Christ  himself,  and  in  the  letters  of  the 
apostles,  and  it  is  so  fully  testified  to  by  heathen 
writers,  —  that  I  cannot  think  it  necessary  to  dwell 
upon  it.  If,  then,  these  men  did  labor,  and  suffer,  and 
finally  die,  in  attestation  of  the  truth  of  their  accounts, 
then  are  our  books  confirmed  in  the  highest  possible 
manner,  and  as  no  other  historical  books  ever  have 
been. 

It  was  not,  however,  —  and  here  we  come  to  one 
of  the  strongest  points  of  the  Christian  testimony,  —  it 
was  not  simply  those  who  compiled  the  accounts  who 
thus  gave  their  testimony,  but  thousands  of  others  ; 
and,  though  their  testimony  is  unwritten,  yet  it  is  so 
involved  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  that  it  comes 
to  us  with  no  less  force  than  if  they  had  certified,  under 
their  own  hands  and  seals,  the  truth  of  our  accounts. 
Every  Christian  who,  in  that  early  age,  abandoned 
the  prejudices  of  education,  and  friends,  and  proi>erty, 


296  LECTURE    X. 

to  become  a  Christian,  especially  every  one  who  was 
persecuted  and  suffered  death  for  the  cause,  gave  his 
testimony,  in  the  most  empliatic  manner  possible,  for 
the  truth  of  the  facts  of  the  Gospels.  Every  member 
of  a  church  which  received  an  Epistle  of  Paul,  and  to 
which  it  was  read,  was  a  witness  of  its  authenticity, 
and  of  the  truth  of  the  facts  of  Christianity,  which  is 
implied  in  all  his  Epistles.  The  great  force  of  this 
unwritten  testimony  is  fully  set  forth  by  Chalmers,  as 
also  the  fallacy  by  which  we  are  so  often  led  to  feel 
that  heathen  testimony  is  superior  in  point  of  force  to 
that  of  Christians,  as  if  the  very  strength  of  conviction 
which  would  lead  a  man  to  become  a  Christian  should 
not  also  furnish  the  best  evidence  of  his  sincerity.  It 
would  be  inconsistent  that  a  heathen  should  testify 
to  the  truth  of  the  religion  without  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian, and  it  is  surely  unreasonable  to  make  the  very 
act  by  which  he  testified,  in  the  highest  possible 
manner,  his  sincerity  and  consistency,  a  reason  for  not 
receiving  his  testimony.  This  testimony  meets  a  pos- 
sible cavil.  It  may  be  said  that  the  eight  writers  of 
the  New  Testament  were  actuated,  in  their  labors  and 
sufferings,  by  a  desire  to  be  of  reputation,  to  be  the 
founders  of  sects,  or  to  preserve  their  consistency. 
But  no  such  motives  can  be  imputed  to  the  mass  of 
Christians  in  that  day,  each  of  whom  did  as  really  and 
as  impressively  testify  to  his  belief  in  the  facts  of  the 
New  Testament  as  if  he  had  written  a  book.  Men 
may  have  motives  for  being  impostors,  but  they  can 
have  none  for  being  imposed  upon,  especially  when 
the  imposition  costs  them  all  that  men  usually  hold 
dear.  When,  therefore,  I  see  the  apostles  and  their 
associates,  and  especially  when  I  see  vast  numbers  of 


LECTURE   X.  297 

persons,  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life,  preferring  to 
relin(|uisli  any  thing,  and  to  undergo  any  thing,  rather 
than  to  deny  the  truth  of  these  facts;  when  I  see 
them  led,  one  by  one,  or,  perhaps,  numb(;rs  together, 
to  scourging  and  torture ;  when  I  see  them  standing  as 
martyrs,  and,  in  that  act,  as  it  were  lifting  up  their 
dying  hand  to  heaven,  and  taking  an  oatii  of  their 
sincerity,  —  then  I  know  that  they  believed  the  facts 
for  which  they  died ;  then  1  think  I  have  found  the 
case  of  which  Hume  speaks,  when  he  says,  "  We 
cannot  make  use  of  a  more  convincing  argument" 
(in  proof  of  honesty)  "  than  to  prove  that  the  actions 
ascribed  to  any  persons  are  contrary  to  the  course 
of  human  nature,  and  that  no  human  motives,  in 
such  circumstances,  could  ever  induce  them  to  such 
a  conduct." 

I  observe,  fifthly,  that  our  books  are  worthy  of  credit, 
because  it  can  be  shown  that  their  authors  were  nei- 
ther deceivers  nor  deceived ;  and  this  is  the  only  al- 
ternative possible  unless  the  religion  is  true.  The 
alternative  that,  unless  Christ  and  his  apostles  were 
what  they  claimed  to  be,  they  were  either  impostors  or 
dupes,  was  first  presented  by  Pascal ;  and  since  his  time 
this  whole  question  has  often  been  argued  under  it. 
The  same  thing,  in  fact,  is  sometimes  argued  under  a 
positive  form,  when  it  is  shown  that  the  primitive 
witnesses  were  both  competent  and  honest.  The  only 
questions  that  can  be  asked  respecting  a  witness  are. 
Is  he  competent  —  that  is,  is  he  well  informed?  and, 
Is  he  honest  ?  Does  he  know  the  truth,  and  will  he 
tell  it  ?  and  it  obviously  makes  no  difference  whether 
we  show  that  the  apostles  were  well  informed  and 
honest,  or  whether  we  show  that  they  were  not  either 

38 


298  LECTURE    X. 

deceivers  or  deceived.  In  either  case,  the  truth  of  the 
relision  is  estabUshed. 

To  one  branch  of  this  alternative  — that  which  sup- 
poses the  apostles  to  have  been  deceivers  —  all  that 
was  said,  under  the  last  head,  of  their  labors  and  suf- 
ferings, will  apply.  It  is  not  in  human  nature,  there 
is  no  example  of  it,  for  even  one  man  to  persevere, 
through  a  long  life,  in  undergoing  labors  and  sufferings, 
and  finally  to  die,  in  attestation  of  what  he  knew  to 
be  false ;  much  less  can  we  suppose  that  twelve  men, 
yea,  that  hundreds  and  thousands,  can  have  done  this. 
The  character  of  Christ  and  of  his  apostles  in  other  re- 
spects, and  the  nature  of  the  religion  which  he  taught, 
forbid  the  supposition  that  they  were  deceivers.  To 
suppose  that  men,  teaching  a  morality  more  perfect 
than  any  other  ever  known,  and  exemplifying  it  in 
their  conduct,  living  lives  of  great  simplicity,  and  self- 
denial,  and  benevolence,  enforcing  truth  and  honesty 
by  the  most  tremendous  sanctions  of  a  future  life, 
should,  without  any  possible  advantage  to  themselves, 
die  as  martyrs  in  attestation  of  what  they  knew  to  be 
false,  is  practically  absurd. 

Moreover,  if  they  were  deceivers,  they  were  so  by 
combination  and  conspiracy.  From  the  nature  of  the 
case  this  must  have  been  so,  and  the  number  acquainted 
with  the  secret  could  not  have  been  small.  But  it  is 
morally  impossible,  under  the  temptations  which  we 
know  assailed  them  from  without,  and  in  the  dissen- 
sions which,  by  their  own  confession,  sprang  up  among 
themselves,  that  such  a  combination  of  falsehood  should 
have  held  together.  A  readiness  to  deceive  always  im- 
plies selfishness  ;  and,  in  such  a  company  of  deceivers, 
there  would  have  been  some  one  to  expose  any  iniquity 


LECTURE    X.  299 

if  thcro  had  been  aiij  to  expose.  I  omit  here,  what 
I  have  very  brielly  noticed  in  another  lecture,  the  gen- 
eral air  of  truth  and  sincerity  in  these  narratives,  their 
simplicity,  their  candor,  their  particularity,  their  minute 
and  life-like  touches.  But  I  do  say  that,  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  varieties  of  human  conduct,  there  are  some 
principles  as  settled  as  the  laws  of  physical  nature  ; 
and  that  for  men  to  combine  to  propagate  such  a  story 
as  tliis,  and  to  devote  their  lives  to  this  object,  and  to 
die  solely  in  attestation  of  it,  when  they  knew  it  to  be 
false,  is  as  contrary  to  a  fixed  and  uniform  experience 
as  any  miracle  can  be.  These  men,  then,  could  not 
have  been  deceivers. 

But  neither,  on  the  other  hand,  could  they  have 
been  deceived.  This  is  evident  from  the  nature  of  the 
facts,  and  from  their  character  as  indicated  by  their 
writings.  And  here  we  are  to  keep  in  mind  the 
distinction  between  testimony  to  facts,  and  infer- 
ences, or  doctrines,  or  opinions.  The  apostles  cer- 
tainly knew  whether  there  was,  or  was  not,  such  a  per- 
son as  Jesus  Christ ;  whether  he  called  them  to  be  his 
disciples ;  whether  he  spoke  the  discourses  they  have 
recorded  ;  whether  multitudes  followed  him  ;  whether 
he  was  crucified.  Nor,  if  we  consider  the  number  and 
character  of  his  miracles,  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  performed,  is  it  more  possible  they  should 
have  been  deceived  respecting  them.  We  read  of 
their  bringing  to  him  great  multitudes  of  "sick  folk," 
with  every  variety  of  disease,  and  of  his  healing  them 
all  ;  of  his  giving  sight  to  the  blind,  to  those  born 
blind ;  of  his  raising  the  dead.  And  all  this  he  did 
openly,  before  friends  and  enemies.  Now,  that  men 
could  be  deceived  respecting  acts  of  this  kind,  repeated 


300  LECTURE    X. 

for  years,  under  all  varieties  of  circumstances,  capable 
of  being  tested  by  all  the  senses,  —  that  thej  could,  for 
example,  have  failed  to  know  that  Lazarus  was  dead 
when  they  had  the  evidence  of  it  given  at  his  tomb, 
or  that  he  was  alive  when  they  conversed  and  ate  with 
him,  —  is  impossible.  Here  is  nothing  that  can  be  re- 
solved into  any  false  perception,  no  mere  momentary 
effect,  nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  whether  the  events, 
if  they  took  place,  were  miraculous.  But  not  only  did 
Christ  himself  work  miracles,  —  he  communicated  to 
his  disciples  that  power.  They  retained  it  long  after 
his  ascension,  and  they  could  not  have  been  deceived 
in  supposing  they  wrought  the  cures  related,  if  they  did 
not.  Either  we  must  abandon  our  faith  in  the  testi- 
mony of  the  senses,  or  we  must  admit  that  events  thus 
tested  really  took  place.  No  stretch  of  enthusiasm 
could  have  led  them  to  believe  that  they  saw  such 
things  if  they  did  not  see  them.  No  enthusiasm  is  suf- 
ficient to  account  for  the  belief  of  so  many,  that  they 
saw  the  Saviour  after  his  resurrection,  and  conversed  and 
ate  with  him,  and  like  Thomas,  could  touch  his  hands 
and  his  side.  If  Christ  did  not  rise,  it  is  equally  im- 
possible to  account,  on  the  supposition  that  they  were 
deceived,  for  their  belief  that  he  did  rise,  and  for  the 
fact  that  the  body  was  not  produced  by  the  Jews. 

But  if  we  look  into  the  writings  of  these  men,  we 
see  no  signs  of  superstitious  weakness,  or  of  enthu- 
siastic fervors.  There  is  nothing  in  their  character, 
aside  from  their  relation  of  miraculous  events,  and 
their  maintaining  their  testimony  at  all  hazards,  that 
bears  any  marks  of  enthusiasm.  On  the  contrary, 
their  writings  are  marked  with  great  good  sense  and 
sobriety.     There  are   no   extravagant  expressions,  no 


LECTURE    X.  301 

indications  of  excessive  emotion,  no  high-wrought  de- 
scription, no  praise,  and  no  censure.  There  is  a  sim- 
])lc  statement  of  the  facts  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  a 
record  of  his  discourses.  Such  men  could  not  have 
been  deceived  for  so  long  a  time  respecting  such  facts. 

But,  if  they  were  neither  deceivers  nor  deceived, 
then  the  facts  took  place,  and  the  religion  is  true. 

We  now  come  to  an  argument  for  the  credibility  of 
the  facts  contained  in  our  books,  which  never  has  been 
answered,  and  never  can  be.  Infidels  have  repeatedly 
been  challenged  to  answer  it,  but  they  have  never 
made  the  attempt.  It  is  the  argument  of  Leslie  in  his 
"  Short  Method  with  the  Deists."  This  argument  rests 
solely  upon  the  peculiarity  of  Christian  evidence,  al- 
ready mentioned,  by  which  the  truth  of  the  religion 
is  indissolubly  connected  with  certain  matters  of  fact 
which  could  originally  be  Judged  of  by  the  senses,  and 
also  upon  the  fact  that  there  exist  in  the  church  certain 
ordinances  commemorative  of  those  facts.  Thus  the 
truth  of  our  religion  seems  to  be  imbodied  in  institu- 
tions that  now  exist,  and  in  observances  that  pass 
before  our  eyes.  The  object  of  Leslie  is  to  show, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  —  for  here  we  make  very 
little  reference  to  written  testimony,  —  that  the  matters 
of  fact  stated  could  not  have  been  received  at  the  time 
unless  they  were  true,  and  that  the  observances  could 
never  have  originated  except  in  connection  with  the 
facts.  In  showing  this,  he  lays  down  four  rules,  and 
asserts  that  any  matter  of  fact  in  which  these  four  rules 
meet  must  be  true,  and  challenges  the  world  to  show 
any  instance  of  any  supposed  matter  of  fact,  thus  au- 
thenticated, that  has  ever  been  shown  to  be  false. 

His  four  rules  are  these  :     1.    "  That  the  matter  of 


302  LECTURE    X. 

fact  be  such  as  that  men's  outward  senses,  their  eyes 
and  ears,  may  be  judges  of  it."  2.  "  That  it  be  done 
publicly,  in  the  face  of  the  world."  3.  "  That  not 
only  public  monuments  be  kept  up  in  memory  of  it, 
but  some  outward  actions  be  performed."  4.  "  That 
such  monuments,  and  such  actions,  or  observances,  be 
instituted,  and  do  commence  from  the  time  that  the 
matter  of  fact  was  done." 

"  The  two  first  rules  make  it  impossible  for  any  such 
matter  of  fact  to  be  imposed  upon  men  at  the  time,  be- 
cause every  man's  eyes,  and  ears,  and   senses,  would 
contradict   it."      For    example,    if   any    man    should 
affirm   that  all   the   inhabitants  of  tiiis  city  yesterday, 
or  last  year,  walked  to  Governor's  Island,  and  returned 
on  dry  ground,  while  the  water  was  divided  and   stood 
in  heaps  on  each  side  of  them,  it  would  be  impossible 
that  he  should  be  believed,  because  every  man,  woman, 
and  child,  would   know  better.     It  would   be  one  of 
those  things   respecting  which  the  unlearned  and  the 
young  could  judge  as  well  as  the  learned  and  the  more 
experienced.     Equally  impossible  is  it  that  the  children 
of  Israel,  of  that  generation,  should  have  believed  that 
they  passed   through  the   Red   Sea,  or  went  out  and 
gathered  manna  every  morning,  or  drank  water  from 
the  rock,  or  that  the  law  was  given  with  the  terror  and 
solemnity  described  in  the  Bible,  if  these  things   did 
not  happen.    Not  less  impossible  is  it  that  the  five  thou- 
sand should  have  believed  they  were  fed  by  Christ ;  or 
that   the    relatives    of   Lazarus,    and    the    Jews    who 
knew  him,  should  have  believed   that   he   was   raised 
from  the  dead,  or  the  parents  and  friends  of  the  man 
born    blind,  that  he   was  made   to  see ;     or  that  the 
multitudes  before  whom   he   healed  the  lame,  and  the 


LECTURE    X.  303 

sick  of  every  description,  should  have  believed  that 
these  events  took  place,  if  they  did  not.  These  mira- 
cles are  of  such  a  nature,  that,  unless  they  were  really 
wrought,  it  is  impossible  they  should  have  been  be- 
lieved at  the  time. 

"  Therefore  it  only  remains  that  such  matter  of 
fact  might  be  invented  some  time  after,  when  the  men 
of  that  generation  wherein  the  thing  was  said  to  be 
done  are  all  past  and  gone  ;  and  the  credulity  of  after 
ages  might  be  imposed  upon  to  beHeve  that  things 
were  done  in  former  ages  which  were  not. 

"  And  for  this  the  two  last  rules  secure  us  as  much 
as  the  two  first  rules  in  the  former  case ;  for,  when- 
ever such  a  matter  of  fact  came  to  be  invented,  if 
not  only  monuments  were  said  to  remain  of  it,  but 
likewise  that  public  actions  and  observances  were 
constantly  used  ever  since  the  matter  of  fact  was  said 
to  be  done,  the  deceit  must  be  detected  by  no  such 
monuments  appearing,  and  by  the  experience  of  every 
man,  woman,  and  child,  who  must  know  that  no  such 
actions  or  observances  were  ever  used  by  them." 
"  For  example,"  continues  Leslie,  "  suppose  I  should 
now  invent  a  story  of  such  a  thing  done  a  thousand 
years  ago ;  I  might  perhaps  get  some  to  believe  it ; 
but  if  I  say  that  not  only  such  a  thing  was  done,  but 
that,  from  that  day  to  this,  every  man,  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  had  a  joint  of  his  little  finger  cut  off; 
and  that  every  man  in  the  nation  did  want  a  joint 
of  such  a  finger  ;  and  that  this  institution  was  said  to 
be  part  of  the  matter  of  fact  done  so  many  years 
ago,  and  vouched  as  a  proof  and  confirmation  of  it, 
and  as  having  descended  without  interruption,  and 
been  constantly  practised,  in  memory  of  such  matter 


/ 


304  LECTURE    X. 

of  fact,  all  along  from  the  time  that  such  matter  of 
fact  was  done  ;  —  I  say  it  is  impossible  I  should  be 
believed  in  such  a  case,  because  every  one  could  con- 
tradict me  as  to  the  mark  of  cutting  off  the  joint  of 
the  linger ;  and  that,  being  a  part  of  my  original  mat- 
ter of  fact,  must  demonstrate  the  whole  to  be  false." 

The  case  here  put  is  not  stronger  than  that  either 
of  the  books  of  Moses,  or  of  the  New  Testament. 
For,  at  whatever  time  it  might  have  been  attempted 
to  impose  the  books  of  Moses  upon  a  subsequent 
age,  it  would  have  been  impossible,  because  they 
contain  the  laws  and  civil  and  ecclesiastical  regula- 
tions of  the  Jews,  which  the  books  affirm  were  adopt- 
ed at  the  time  of  Moses,  and  were  constantly  in  force 
from  that  time ;  and  because  they  contain  an  account 
of  the  institution  of  the  passover,  which  they  assert  to 
have  been  observed  in  consequence  of  a  particular  fact. 
If,  then,  a  book  had  been  put  forth  at  a  particular 
time,  stating  that  the  Jews  had  obeyed  certain  very 
peculiar  laws,  and  had  a  certain  priesthood,  and  had 
observed  the  passover  from  the  time  of  Moses,  while 
they  had  never  heard  of  these  laws,  or  of  this  priest- 
hood, or  of  a  passover,  it  is  impossible  the  book  should 
have  been  received.  Nothine:  could  have  saved  such 
a  book  from  scorn  or  utter  neglect. 

But  what  the  Levitical  law,  and  the  priesthood, 
and  the  passover,  were  to  the  Jews,  baptism,  and 
the  Christian  ministry,  and  the  Lord's  supper,  are  to 
Christians.  It  is  a  part  of  the  records  of  the  Gospels 
that  these  were  instituted  by  Christ ;  that  they  were 
commanded  by  him  to  be  continued  till  the  end  of 
time,  and  were  actually  continued  and  observed  at  the 
time  when  the  Gospels  purport  to  have  been  written  — 


LECTURE    X.  305 

that  is,  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  But  if 
these  hooks  were  fictions  invented  after  the  time  of 
Christ,  there  would  have  been  at  that  time  no  Cinis- 
tian  baptism,  nor  order  of  Christian  ministers,  nor 
sacrament  of  the  supper,  thus  derived  from  his  ap- 
j)ointment ;  and  that,  alone,  would  have  demonstrated 
the  whole  to  be  false.  Our  books  suppose  these  in- 
stitutions to  exist;  they  give  an  account  of  them;  and 
it  is  impossible  they  should  have  been  received  where 
they  did  not  exist.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  tliat 
these  books  should  have  been  received  at  the  time 
the  facts  are  said  to  have  taken  place,  or  at  any  sub- 
sequent time,  unless  those  facts  really  did  take  place. 
We  now  regard  the  sacrament  of  the  supper  as  an 
essential  part  of  the  religion  ;  it  was  so  regarded  by 
our  fathers ;  nor  can  we  conceive  that  it  should  have 
been  otherwise  up  to  the  very  time  when  the  religion 
was  founded.  Thus  we  have  a  visible  sign  and  pledge 
of  the  truth  of  our  religion,  handed  down,  independ- 
ently of  written  testimony,  from  age  to  age  ;  and  the 
force  of  which,  age  has  no  tendency  to  diminish. 

Perhaps  we  do  not  sufficiently  dwell  on  the  great 
strength  which  the  Christian  evidences  derive  from 
this  proof,  or  notice  the  contrast  it  makes  between 
the  evidence  for  the  facts  of  Christianity  and  those 
of  ordinary  history.  Not  only  is  it  impossible  to  point 
out  any  statement  of  fact,  substantiated  by  these  four 
marks,  that  can  be  shown  to  be  false,  but  none  of  the 
best  authenticated  facts  of  ancient  history  have  them 
all.  The  fourth  of  July,  as  observed  by  us,  may  illus- 
trate the  effects  of  such  commemorative  ordinances 
as  guarding  against  false  historical  accounts.     For  any 

man  to  have  invented  the  New  Testament  after  the 

3a 


306  LECTURE    X. 

time  of  Christ,  and  to  have  attempted  to  cause  it  to 
be  received,  vv^ould  have  been  as  if  a  man  had  written 
an  account  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  the  celebration 
of  this  day  from  the  first,  when  no  revolution  was 
ever  heard  of,  and  no  one  ever  celebrated  the  fourth 
of  July.  Nor,  when  such  a  festival  was  once  estab- 
lished, would  it  be  possible  to  introduce  any  account  of 
its  origin  essentially  different  from  the  true  one.  But 
the  case  of  the  Christian  religion  is  much  stronger  ; 
because  we  have  several  different  institutions  which 
must  have  sprung  up  at  its  origin  ;  because  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  supper  have  occurred  so  much  more 
frequently ;  and  because  the  latter  has  always  been 
considered  the  chief  rite  of  a  religion  to  which  men 
have  been  more  attached  than  to  liberty  or  to  life. 

Thus  I  have  brought  into  close  juxtaposition  these 
two  great  arguments.  We  have  seen  that  it  was 
impossible  that  the  apostles  should  have  been  either 
deceivers  or  deceived  ;  and  that  the  books  could  not 
have  been  received,  either  at  the  time  they  purport 
to  have  been  written,  or  at  any  subsequent  time, 
if  the  facts  recorded  had  not  taken  place. 

But  again  ;  our  books  are  credible  because  there  are 
no  others.  That  such  a  movement  as  Christianity  must 
have  been,  involving  the  origin  of  so  many  new  institu- 
tions, and  such  ecclesiastical  and  social  changes,  should 
have  originated  at  such  a  time,  and  in  such  a  place,  and 
that  no  written  documents  should  have  been  drawn  forth 
by  it,  is  incredible.  And  that  the  true  account  should 
have  perished,  leaving  not  a  vestige  behind  it,  and  that 
false  ones,  and  such  as  these,  should  have  been  substi- 
tuted, is  impossible.  Of  the  origin  of  such  institutions 
we  should  expect  some  account.     That  of  our  books  is 


LECTURE   X.  307 

adequate  and  satisfactory.  Thcere  is  nothing  contradic- 
tory to  it,  for  even  spurious  \^  ritings  confirm  the  truth 
of  our  books,  and  there  is  no  vestige  of  any  other. 

I  will  only  add,  in  this  general  department  of  evi- 
dence, that  our  books  are  credible  because  they  contain 
accounts  of  such  miracles.  In  the  second  lecture,  I 
spoke  of  miracles  as  the  proper  and  only  adequate  seal 
of  a  message  from  God,  and  also  noticed  the  peculiar 
import  of  those  words  of  Nicodemus,  "  We  know  that 
no  man  can  do  these  miracles  that  thou  doest  except 
God  be  with  him,"  in  which  it  seems  to  be  implied 
that  the  character  of  the  miracle,  as  well  as  the  mere 
fact  that  a  miracle  was  Avrought,  may  have  something 
to  do  w  ith  the  weight  and  bearing  of  its  evidence.  I 
have  recently  met  with  a  passage,  in  "  The  Process  of 
Historical  Proof,"  by  Isaac  Taylor,  in  which,  from  a 
comparison  of  the  Christian  miracles  with  the  prodigies 
to  which  impostors  have  made  pretension,  he  asserts 
that  they  so  bear  the  stamp  of  divinity  upon  them 
as  to  stand  in  no  need  of  external  proof.  Perhaps 
this  is  too  strongly  stated,  but  the  thought  is  one  de- 
serving of  attention.  "  Whoever,"  says  he,  "  is  duly 
informed  of  the  state  of  mankind  in  ancient  times,  and 
is  aware  of  the  invariable  character  of  the  preter- 
natural events  or  prodigies  which  were  talked  of 
among  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  Asiatics,  (the  Jews 
excepted,  whose  notions  were  derived  from  another 
source,)  must  allow  that  the  miracles  recorded  to  have 
been  performed  by  Christ  and  his  apostles  differ 
totally  from  all  such  portents  and  prodigies.  The 
beneficent  restorations  which  followed  the  word  or  the 
touch  of  Him  who  came,  not  to  destroy  life,  but  to 
save,  were,  if  the  expression    may   be    allowed,  per- 


308  LECTURE    X. 

fectly  in  the  style  of  the  Creator :  they  held  forth  such 
exhibitions  of  an  absolute  control  over  the  material 
world  as  were  most  significant  of  the  power  of  the 
doctrine  to  restore  health  to  the  soul.  If  the  idea  of 
the  morality  taught  by  Christ  was  absolutely  new,  so 
likewise  was  the  idea  of  the  miracles  performed  by  him 
to  enforce  it."     ...  . 

"  Were  there  room  to  doubt  what  is  the  character 
of  the  native  imagination  of  enthusiasts  —  of  fanatics 

—  of  interested  priests  —  when  they  have  devised  the 
means  of  giving  credit  to  their  fraudulent  usurpations 
over  the  consciences  of  their  fellows,  we  might  read 
the  history  of  superstition  in  ancient  Egypt,  India,  or 
Greece ;  or,  if  that  were  not  enough,  we  might  turn  to 
the  history  of  those  '  lying  wonders,'  upon  which  the 
ministers  of  the  Romish  religion  in  modern  times  have 
rested  their  pretensions."  A  missionary  from  India 
informs  me,  that  the  traditionary  miracles  of  that 
country,  at  the  present  time,  are  generally  connected 
with  stories  the  most  whimsical  and  absurd  ;  that  they 
were  wrought  to  establish  no  principle,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  for  the  purposes  of  cruelty  and  lust. 

"  The  gospel  miracles  stand  out,  therefore,  from  the 
uniform  history  of  false  religions,  just  as  the  gospel 
morality  stands  out  from  the  history  of  all  other  ethi- 
cal systems.     They  alone   are  worthy  of  the  Creator, 

—  and  that  alone  is  worthy  of  the  Supreme  Lawgiver. 
Instead,  then,  of  admitting  that  stronger  evidence  is 
necessary,  to  attest  the  extraordinary  facts  recorded  in 
the  New  Testament,  than  is  deemed  sufficient  in  the 
common  path  of  history,  we  assert  their  intrinsic  in- 
dependence  of  external  proof;  and  we  affirm  that  no 
sound  and  well-informed   mind  could  fail  to  attribute 


LECTURE    X.  300 

them  to  the  Divine  Agent,  even  though  all  historical 
evidence  were  absent.  Nothing  is  so  reasonable  as  to 
believe  that  the  miracles  and  discourses  of  Jesus  were 
from  God,  —  nothing  so  absurd  as  to  suppose  them  to 
have  been  of  men." 

Here,  then,  we  have  five  authentic  histories — four,  of 
the  same  events  —  written  by  four  different  persons, 
who  were  themselves  eye-witnesses,  or  had  the  best 
means  of  knowing  what  they  relate.  We  have  original 
letters,  written  at  the  time,  both  to  bodies  of  men,  and 
to  individuals,  containing  a  great  variety  of  indirect,  and 
therefore  of  the  very  strongest,  testimony.  We  find 
the  books  bearing  every  mark  of  honesty.  We  find 
the  facts  of  such  a  nature  that  the  witnesses  could  not 
have  been  deceived,  and  we  find  them  lavins;  down 
their  lives  to  testify  that  they  did  not  deceive  others. 
We  find  institutions  now  existing,  and  rites  observed, 
which  hold  such  a  relation  to  the  facts  of  Christianity, 
as  given  in  the  books,  that  the  books  must  be  true. 
We  find,  moreover,  no  other  account,  nor  the  vestige  of 
any,  of  the  greatest  revolution  the  w^orld  has  ever 
known,  while  our  accounts  are  in  all  respects  simple, 
and  natural,  and  perfectly  satisfactory,  assigning  only 
adequate  causes  for  effects  which  we  know  were  pro- 
duced ;  and,  finally,  we  find  in  these  books  the  only 
account  of  miracles  that  are  worthy  of  God.  Can 
any  man  then  refuse  to  believe  facts  thus  substantiated, 
and  yet  receive  evidence  for  any  past  event  ?  Can  he 
do  it,  and  pretend  he  is  not  governed  by  other  con- 
siderations than  those  of  evidence  ? 

And  here  I  might  pause ;  but  I  am  to  present  the 
evidence,   and  there   is   still   another   department   on 


310  LECTURE    X. 

which  I  have  not  touched.  All  the  evidence  hitherto 
adduced  has  been  drawn  from  our  own  books,  or  from 
the  nature  of  the  case.  Let  us  now  turn  to  that 
which  we  may  derive  from  heathen  writers,  and  from 
other  sources.  This  evidence  must  be  noticed,  because 
there  are  those  who  attach  to  it  a  peculiar  value. 
There  are  those  who  give  a  weight  to  the  testimony 
of  Tacitus  the  heathen,  which  they  would  not  have 
given  to  that  of  Tacitus  the  Christian.  This  is  unrea- 
sonable ;  because,  if  Tacitus  had  become  a  Christian,  it 
would,  under  the  circumstances,  have  implied  both  sin- 
cerity and  more  accurate  knowledge.  The  very  fact  of 
becoming  a  Christian  would  have  been,  on  his  part,  as 
it  was  on  the  part  of  every  converted  heathen,  the  most 
striking  testimony  he  could  have  given  of  his  belief  in 
the  facts  of  Christianity.  Still,  there  are  those  who  will 
not  detach  the  idea  of  partisanship  from  the  belief  and 
maintenance  of  any  great  truth,  and  who  look  upon 
Christian  testimony,  as  such,  with  suspicion.  While, 
therefore,  we  say  that  they  suffer  the  very  circumstance, 
that  ought  to  give  this  evidence  weight,  to  impair  its 
force,  yet,  for  their  sakes,  as  well  as  for  its  intrinsic 
value,  the  evidence  from  other  sources  must  be  given. 
And  here,  again,  as  at  other  points,  the  evidence  of 
Christianity  shines  with  a  peculiar  lustre.  It  may,  in- 
deed, almost  be  said  that  our  books  are  credible  from  the 
very  time  and  place  of  their  origin.  "  Few  persons," 
says  the  forcible  writer  whom  I  last  quoted,  "few  per- 
sons, perhaps,  give  due  attention  to  the  relative  position 
of  the  Christian  history,  which  stands  upon  the  very 
point  of  intersection  where  three  distinct  lines  of  his- 
tory meet  —  namely,  the  Jewish,  the  Grecian,  and 
the  Roman.     These  three  bodies  of  ancient  literature, 


LECTURE   X.  311 

alone,  have  descended,  by  an  unintcrrupied  channel 
of  transmission,  to  modern  times ;  and  these  three,  by 
a  most  extraordinary  combination  of  circumstances, 
were  brought  together  to  elucidate  the  origination  of 
Christianity.  If  upon  the  ])road  field  of  history  there 
rests  the  common  light  of  day,  upon  that  spot  where  a 
new  religion  was  given  to  man  there  shines  the  inten- 
sity of  a  concentrated  brightness."  The  Jews  had 
their  own  literature  ;  they  had  lieen  formerly  conquered 
by  the  Greeks,  and  the  Greek  language  was  in  com- 
mon use ;  they  were  also  a  Roman  province,  and 
"  during  more  than  a  century,  in  the  centre  of  which 
stands  the  ministry  of  Christ,  the  affairs  of  Syria 
attracted  the  peculiar  attention  of  the  Roman  govern- 
ment." "No  other  peo])le  of  antiquity  can  be  named, 
upon  whose  history  and  sentiments  there  falls  this 
triple  flood  of  historic  light ;  and  upon  no  period  in  the 
history  of  this  one  people  do  these  triple  rays  so  pre- 
cisely meet,  as  upon  the  moment  when  the  voice  of 
one  was  heard  in  the  wilderness  of  Jordan,  saying, 
'Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord.'"*  Well,  then, 
might  an  apostle  say,  "  These  things  were  not  done 
in  a  corner."  The  time  is  not  run  back,  like  that  of 
Indian  legends,  to  obscure  and  fabulous  ages ;  nor  is 
it  in  what  are  called  the  dark  ages  of  more  modern 
times.  It  was  a  civilized  and  enlightened  age  —  a 
classic  age  —  an  age  of  poets,  philosophers,  and  his- 
torians. Nor  was  it  in  Mecca,  a  citv  little  known  or 
visited  by  the  civilized  world,  and  where  the  people 
and  language  were  homogeneous,  that  Christ  arose. 
It  was  in  Jerusalem,  in  Asia  Minor,  —  the  theatre  of 

*  Process  of  Historical  Proo£ 


312  LECTURE    X. 

history  from  the  first,  —  and  from  the  bosom  of  a  peo- 
ple with  all  whose  rites  and  usages  we  are  perfectly 
acquainted.  It  was,  perhaps,  the  only  place  on  earth 
in  which  a  Roman  governor  would  have  called  the 
three  lans-uages  which  contain  the  literature  of  ancient 
civilization  into  requisition,  to  proclaim  at  once  the 
accusation  and  the  true  character  of  Christ.  "  And 
Pilate  wrote  a  title,  and  put  it  on  the  cross.  And  the 
writing  was — Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the 
Jews.  And  it  was  written  in  Hebrew,  and  Greek,  and 
Latin.^'' 

Here,  then,  was  a  mixed  population,  with  different 
prejudices  and  interests,  speaking  different  languages, 
for  that  day  a  reading  population,  in  a  city  to  which 
not  only  the  Jews  dwelling  in  Palestine,  but  those 
from  distant  countries,  and  proselytes,  came  up  yearly 
as  the  centre  and  seat  of  the  only  pure  worship  of  God 
on  earth.  And  was  this  the  place  to  select  for  the 
production  of  forged  writings  ?  or  for  an  imposture  ot 
any  kind  to  gather  a  force  that  should  carry  it  over  the 
earth  ? 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  opportunity  furnished 
by  the  number  and  variety  of  the  Christian  witnesses 
for  a  most  searching  cross-examination,  and  we  have 
seen  how  triumphantly  they  come  out  from  such  an 
ordeal.  And  here  again  they  are  brought  to  a  test 
scarcely  less  trying.  The  contemporary  writers,  Jewish 
and  heathen,  in  the  three  languages  mentioned,  are 
numerous  ;  and  whatever,  in  any  of  them,  throws  light 
on  the  manners,  or  habits,  or  sects,  or  forms  of  govern- 
ment, or  general  condition,  of  the  inhabitants  of  Pales- 
tine and  the  surrounding  countries,  will  enable  us  to 
put  to  a   most  decisive  test  those  who  describe  with 


LECTURE    X.  313 

any  minuteness  important  events  passing  upon   such 
a  scene. 

Of  Hebrew  literature,  then,  we  have  the  Tahnuds, 
collections  of  Jewish  traditions,  the  compilation  of 
which  was  commenced  as  early  as  the  second  century. 
They  speak  of  Christ,  and  of  several  of  the  disciples, 
by  name.  They  speak  also  of  his  crucifixion.  They 
admit,  also,  that  he  performed  many  and  great  miracles, 
but  impute  his  power  to  his  having  learned  the  right 
pronunciation  of  the  ineffable  name  of  God,  which, 
they  say,  he  stole  out  of  the  Temple,  or  to  the  magic 
arts  which  he  learned  in  Egypt.  These  writings  are 
specific  in  their  statements  respecting  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  and  throw  much  light  on  the  sects  and 
customs  of  the  Jews.* 

Of  Greek  writers,  we  cite  first  Josephus,  who,  though 
he  was  a  Jew  by  birth,  and  a  Roman  by  association 
and  habits,  yet  wrote  in  Greek — which,  together  with 
the  fact  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were 
most,  if  not  all  of  them,  written  in  the  same  language, 
shows  how  extensively  it  was  used  in  those  days. 
Josephus  lived  at  the  time  many  of  these  events  are 
said  to  have  happened,  and  was  present  at  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem.  In  him,  therefore,  we  have  the 
most  ample  means  of  ascertaining  every  thing  relating 
to  Jewish  sects,  and  customs,  and  opinions,  and  of 
testing  the  accuracy  of  our  books  respecting  many 
dates  and  names  of  persons  and  places. 

And,  on  all  hands,  it  is  agreed  that,  so  far  as  Jose- 
phus goes,  he  confirms  in  every  thing  the  accuracy  of 
our  books.     Every  thing  said  in  relation  to  the  sects 


*  See  Home. 
4D 


314  LECTURE    X. 

of  the  Jews,  and  the  Herods,  and  Pilate,  and  the  di- 
vision of  provinces,  and  Felix,  and  Diusilla,  and  Ber- 
nice,  and  John  the  Baptist,  has  just  that  agreement 
with  our  accounts  which  we  should  expect  in  inde- 
pendent historians.  The  account  given  by  Josephus 
of  the  death  of  Herod  is  strikingly  similar  to  that  of 
Luke.  The  account  by  Luke  you  will  remember. 
Josephus  says  that  Herod  came  into  the  theatre  early 
in  the  morning,  dressed  in  a  robe  or  garment  made 
wholly  of  silver,  and  that  the  reflection  of  the  rays  of 
the  rising  sun  from  the  silver  gave  him  a  majestic  and 
awful  appearance,  and  that  in  a  short  time  his  flatter- 
ers exclaimed,  one  from  one  place  and  another  from 
another,  though  not  for  his  good,  that  he  was  a  god, 
and  they  entreated  him  to  be  propitious  to  them.  He 
then  adds,  "Immediately  after,  he  was  seized  with 
pain  in  his  bowels,  extremely  violent,  and  was  carried 
to  the  palace."  Luke  gives  the  cause  of  the  pain, 
saying  he  was  eaten  of  worms.  Do  we  find  in  the 
New  Testament  the  Jews  calling  upon  Pilate  to  cruci- 
fy Jesus,  and  saying.  We  have  no  power  to  put  any 
man  to  death  ?  Josephus  says  that  they  had  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion,  and  the  power  of  accusing 
and  prosecuting,  but  not  of  putting  any  man  to  death. 
Do  we  find  the  Roman  captain,  when  Paul  was  ar- 
rested, asking,  "  Art  not  thou  that  Egyptian,  which 
before  these  days  madest  an  uproar,  and  leddest  out 
into  the  wilderness  four  thousand  men  that  were  mur- 
derers ?  "  We  find  in  Josephus  a  full  account  of  the 
transaction,  which  happened  under  the  government  of 
Felix,  and,  what  is  remarkable,  Josephus  does  not 
mention  his  name,  but  every  where  calls  him  "  the 
Egyptian,"  and  "  the  Egyptian  false   prophet."     Do 


LECTURE    X.  315 

our  books  speak  of  Pharisees,  and  Sadducees,  and 
Herodians?  Josephus  confirms  all  that  is  said  of 
these  in  the  minutest  particulars.  Does  Luke  speak 
of  soldiers  who  went  to  John  the  Baptist,  using  a  word 
(fSToattvofievoL)  which  indicates  that  they  were  then 
under  arms  and  marching  to  battle  ?  Josephus  tells  us 
that  Herod  was  then  at  war  with  Antipas,  his  father- 
in-law,  and  that  a  body  of  soldiers  was  at  that  very 
time  marching  through  the  region  where  John  was. 
Does  Luke  speak  of  Herod  as  reproved  by  John  for 
Herodias,  his  brother  Philip's  wife  ?  Josephus  tells  us 
it  was  on  her  account  that  Herod  had  sent  back  his 
wife,  and  that  the  war  was  undertaken.  Does  Paul 
say  of  Ananias,  when  reproached  for  reviling  God's 
high  priest,  "  I  wist  not,  brethren,  that  he  was  the  high 
priest"?  We  find,  from  Josephus,  that  Ananias  had 
been  deposed,  and  his  successor  murdered,  and  that  in 
the  interim,  when  there  really  was  no  high  priest, 
Ananias  had  usurped  the  place.  Does  Luke  speak  of 
a  body  of  soldiers  stationed  at  Caesarea,  called  the 
Augustan  band?  Josephus  says,  that  though  that 
garrison  was  chiefly  composed  of  Syrian  soldiers,  yet 
that  there  was  a  small  body  of  Roman  soldiers  sta- 
tioned there,  called  by  this  title,  and  he  applies  to  them 
the  very  Greek  term  used  by  Luke.  So  minute  and 
perfect  are  these  coincidences,  that  no  one  can  resist 
the  conviction  that  the  WTiters  of  our  books  lived  and 
acted  in  the  scenes  which  they  relate. 

But  it  is  said  that  Josephus  is  silent  respecting  Christ 
and  Christianity.  This  is  not  true,  if  we  admit  as 
authentic  a  passage  which  is  found  in  all  the  manu- 
scripts, and  which  has  strong  external  testimony. 
The  following  is  the  passage  :  "  Now  there  was,  about 


316  LECTURE    X. 

this  time,  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call 
him  a  man ;  for  he  performed  many  wonderful  works. 
He  was  a  teacher  of  such  men  as  received  the  truth 
with  pleasure.  He  drew  over  to  him  many  of  the 
Jews,  and  also  of  the  Gentiles.  This  was  the  Christ. 
And  when  Pilate,  at  the  instigation  of  the  principal 
men  among  us,  had  condemned  him  to  the  cross,  those 
who  had  loved  him  from  the  first  did  not  cease  to  ad- 
here to  him.  For  he  appeared  to  them  alive  again  on 
the  third  day ;  the  divine  prophets  having  foretold 
these  and  ten  thousand  other  wonderful  things  con- 
cerning him.  And  the  tribe  of  Christians,  so  named 
from  him,  subsists  to  this  time."*  He  says  in  another 
place,  and  subsequently,  "Ananias  assembled  the 
Jewish  Sanhedrim,  and  brought  before  it  James,  the 
brother  of  Jesus,  who  is  called  Christ,  with  some 
others,  whom  he  delivered  over  to  be  stoned  as  in- 
fractors of  the  law."  The  authenticity  of  these  pas- 
sages has  been  controverted.  But,  if  we  suppose 
Josephus  silent,  then  it  is  certain,  from  Tacitus,  that 
his  silence  was  not  from  ignorance,  and,  inasmuch  as 
he  continued  a  Jew,  it  thus  becomes  an  indirect  testi- 
mony. He  could  not  say  any  thing  to  contradict  our 
books.  He  says  nothing  different  from  our  historians; 
he  brings  no  charge  of  falsehood  against  them.  He 
confirms  them  in  all  incidental  points. 

But,  again ;  does  Luke  speak  of  the  Athenians  as 
spending  their  time  in  hearing  and  telling  some  new 
thing  ?  We  find  Demosthenes,  long  before,  inquiring 
of  them  whether  it  was  their  sole  ambition  to  wander 
through  the  public  places,  each  inquiring  of  the  other, 

*  For  a  vindication  of  the  genuineness  of  this  passage,  see  the  re- 
cent edition  of  Home,  vol.  i.  p.  463. 


LECTURE    X.  317 

"  Wliat  news  ?  "  Does  Paul  speak  of  the  Cretans  as 
liars  ?  We  find  that  to  "  Cretize  "  was  a  proverbial 
expression,  among  the  ancients,  for  lying. 

Before  citing  two  celebrated  Latin  authors,  I  will 
say  a  word  of  the  testimony  of  Pilate.  It  appears 
that  the  Roman  governors  sent  to  the  emperors  an  ac- 
count of  remarkable  transactions  which  took  place  in 
their  provinces,  and  these  accounts  were  preserved  as 
the  acts  of  that  government.  Eusebius,  speaking  of 
this  custom,  says,  "  Our  Saviour's  resurrection  being 
much  ta^ed  of  throughout  Palestine,  Pilate  informed 
the  emperor  of  it."  These  accounts  were  never  pub- 
lished ;  but  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  first  Apology,  present- 
ed to  the  Emperor  Antoninus  Pius  and  to  the  senate 
of  Rome,  only  about  one  hundred  years  after  the  death 
of  Christ,  having  mentioned  the  crucifixion,  and  some 
of  the  attending  circumstances,  adds,  "  And  that  these 
things  were  so  done,  you  may  know  from  the  Acts  made 
in  the  time  of  Pontius  Pilate."  And  again,  speaking 
of  the  miracles  of  Christ,  he  refers  in  the  same  words 
to  these  Acts  of  Pilate.  Tertullian  also  speaks  ex- 
pressly of  them,  and  states  some  things  they  contained. 
If  such  Acts  had  not  existed,  it  would  have  been  mere 
foolhardiness  in  Justin  to  refer  to  them  when  writing 
to  the  very  person  in  whose  hands  they  were ;  and  if 
they  did  exist,  how  perfect  the  evidence  !  * 

But  I  pass  to  Tacitus,  whose  testimony  even  Gib- 
bon admits  must  be  received.  In  connection  with  an 
account  of  the  burning  of  Rome,  in  the  tenth  year  of 
Nero,  which  was  imputed  by  Nero  to  the  Christians, 
he   tells   us   that  Christ  was   put  to   death   by  Pontius 

*  Home,  to  whom,  and  Paley,  I  have  chiefly  referred  in  tliis  part  of 
tiie  lecture. 


318  LECTURE    X. 

Pilate,  who  was  the  procurator  under  Tiberius,  as  a 
malefactor;  that  the  people  called  Christians  derived 
their  name  from  him;  that  this  superstition  arose  in 
Judea,  and  spread  to  Rome,  where  at  that  time,  only 
about  thirty  years  after  the  death  of  Christ,  the  Chris- 
tians were  very  numerous.  The  words  of  Tacitus,  in 
speaking  of  them,  are,  "  ingens  multitudo,^^  a  great 
multitude.  It  is  obvious,  also,  from  the  account  of 
Tacitus,  that  the  Christians  were  subjected  to  contempt 
and  the  most  dreadful  sufferings.  "  Their  executions," 
says  he,  "  were  so  contrived  as  to  expose  th»m  to  de- 
rision and  contempt.  Some  were  covered  over  with 
the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  that  they  might  be  torn  to 
pieces  by  dogs  ;  some  were  crucified  ;  while  others,  be- 
ing daubed  over  with  combustible  materials,  were  set 
up  as  lights  in  the  night-time,  and  were  thus  burnt  to 
death."  This  account  is  confirmed  by  Suetonius,  and 
by  Martial,  and  Juvenal.  In  his  first  satire,  Juvenal 
has  the  following  allusion,  which  I  give  as  translated 
by  Mr.  Gifford  :  — 

"  Now  dare 
To  glance  at  Tigellinus,  and  you  glare 
In  that  pitched  shirt  in  which  such  crowds  expire, 
Chained  to  the  bloody  stake,  and  wrapped  in  fire." 

This  testimony  of  Tacitus,  confirmed  as  it  is,  is  per- 
fectly conclusive  respecting  the  time  and  the  main 
facts  of  the  origin  of  Christianity. 

It  would  here  be  in  place  to  quote  the  whole  of  the 
celebrated  letter  of  Pliny  to  Trajan,  and  the  reply  ; 
but  as  these  are  so  well  known,  I  will  simply  give  two 
brief  passages,  one  respecting  the  character,  and  the 
other  the  numbers,  of  the  Christians.  Pliny  was  pro- 
praetor of  Pontus  and  Bithynia,  a  part  of  Asia  remote 


LECTURE    X.  319 

from  Judea,  and  the  letter  was  written  but  a  little 
more  than  seventy  years  after  the  death  of  Christ. 
"They  affirmed,"  says  he,  —  that  is,  those  who  said 
they  had  once  been  Christians,  but  were  not  then, — 
"  that  the  whole  of  their  fault,  or  error,  lay  in  this, 
that  they  were  wont  to  meet  together  on  a  stated  day 
before  it  was  light,  and  sing  among  themselves,  alter- 
nately, a  hymn  to  Christ,  as  God,  and  bind  themselves, 
by  an  oath,  not  to  the  commission  of  any  wickedness, 
but  not  to  be  guilty  of  theft,  or  robbery,  or  adultery, 
never  to  falsify  their  ^^'ord,  nor  to  deny  a  pledge»com- 
mitted  to  them  when  called  upon  to  return  it.  When 
these  things  were  performed,  it  was  their  custom  to 
separate,  and  then  to  come  together  again  to  a  meal, 
which  they  ate  in  common  without  any  disorder." 
This  account  seemed  so  extraordinary  to  Pliny,  that 
he  applied  torture  to  two  women,  but  discovered  noth- 
ing more. 

The  passage  in  regard  to  numbers  is  —  "  Suspend- 
ing, therefore,  all  judicial  proceedings,  I  have  recourse 
to  you  for  advice  ;  for  it  has  appeared  to  me  a  matter 
highly  deserving  consideration,  especially  on  account 
of  the  great  number  of  persons  who  are  in  danger  of 
suffering  ;  for  many  of  all  ages  and  every  rank,  of 
both  sexes  likewise,  are  accused,  and  will  be  accused. 
Nor  has  the  contagion  of  this  superstition  seized  cities 
only,  but  the  lesser  towns  also,  and  the  open  country." 
Here  we  find  the  testimony  given  in  our  books  of  the 
progress  of  the  religion  fully  confirmed.  Pontus  and 
Bithynia  were  remote  provinces,  and  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  the  Christian  religion  had  spread  more 
rapidly  there  than  elsewhere.  How  strong  must 
have    been    that    primitive    evidence   for  Christianity 


320  LECTURE    X. 

which  could  induce  these  persons,  persons  of  good 
sense,  in  every  walk  of  life,  to  abandon  the  religion 
of  their  ancestors,  and  thus,  in  the  face  of  imperial 
power,  to  persist  in  their  adherence  to  one  who  had 
suffered  the  death  of  a  slave  ! 

We  might  also  refer  to  Celsus,  and  Lucian,  and 
Epictetus,  and  the  Emperor  Marcus  Antoninus,  and 
Galen,  and  Porphyry,  —  who  all  throw  light  on  the 
early  history  of  Christianity,  and  all  confirm,  so  far 
as  they  go,  the  accounts  of  our  books. 

There  is  a  single  species  of  evidence  more,  that  I 
will  just  mention  —  that  which  is  derived  from  an- 
cient coins,  medals,  and  inscriptions.  The  most 
striking  of  these  relate  to  the  credibility  of  the  Old 
Testament ;  still,  valuable  confirmation  to  the  New 
is  not  wanting,  and  I  mention  it  because  it  shows 
how  every  possible  line  of  evidence  converges  on  this 
point. 

Luke  gives  to  Sergius  Paulus  a  title  belonging  only 
to  a  man  of  proconsular  dignity,  and  it  had  been 
doubted  whether  the  governor  of  Cyprus  had  that 
dignity.  A  coin,  however,  has  been  found,  struck  in 
the  reign  of  Claudius  Caesar,  (the  very  reign  in  which 
Paul  visited  Cyprus,)  and  under  Proclus,  who  succeeded 
Sergius  Paulus,  on  which  the  very  title  applied  by 
Luke  is  given  to  Proclus.  Luke  speaks  of  Philippi 
as  a  colony,  and  the  word  implies  that  it  was  a  Ro- 
man colony.  It  was  mentioned  as  such  by  no  other 
historian,  and  hence  the  authority  of  Luke  was 
questioned.  But  a  medal  has  been  discovered  which 
shows  that  this  dignity  was  conferred  upon  that  city 
by  Julius  Caesar.     It  is  implied,  in  the  nineteenth  of 


LECTURE    X.  321 

Acts,  that  there  was  great  zeal  at  Ephesus  for  the 
worship  of  Diana  ;  and  a  long  inscription  has  been 
fonnd  there,  by  which  it  i*pears  that,  at  one  time, 
a  whole  month  was  set  apart  to  games  and  festivals 
in  honor  of  her. 

There  have  also  been  found,  in  the  catacombs  at 
Rome,  inscrij)tions  which  show,  in  a  touching  man- 
ner, in  opposition  to  the  insinuations  of  Gibbon  and 
of  some  later  writers,  the  cruelty  of  the  early  per- 
secutions, and  the  number  of  those  who  suffered 
martyrdom.*  Much  evidence  of  this  kii^  might  be 
added. 

Thus  have  we  every  conceivable  species  of  his- 
torical proof,  both  external  and  internal.  Thus  do 
the  very  stones  cry  out.  And,  my  hearers,  if  there 
may  be  such  a  thing  as  a  weak  and  obstinate  cre- 
dulity, may  there  not  also  be  such  a  thing  as  a 
skepticism  equally  w?&k   and  obstinate  ? 


*  Wiseman's  Lectures. 
41 


LECTURE   XI. 


PROPHECY.  —  NATURE    OF    THIS    EVIDENCE.  —  THE    GENERAL 
OBJECT  OF  PROPHECY.  — THE  FULFILMENT  OF  PROPHECY. 

The  sul^ect  of  propfiecy,  upon  which  we  now 
enter,  is  a  great  subject.  It  involves  many  questions 
of  difficulty,  and  of  deep  and  increasing  interest ;  and 
I  find  myself  embarrassed  in  the  attempt  to  say  any 
thing  respecting  it  in  a  single  lecture, 
i  The  term  'prophet'  meant,  originally, one  who  spoke 
the  words  of  God,  not  necessaril3^mplying  that  he  fore- 
told future  events ;  but,  when  I  speak  of  prophecy  as 
an  evidence  of  revealed  religion,  I  mean  by  it  a  fore- 
telling of  future  events  so  contingent  that  they  could 
not  be  foreseen  by  human  sagacity,  and  so  numerous 
and  particular  that  they  could  not  be  produced  by 
chance.  To  foretell  such  events,  and  bring  them  to 
pass,  is  among  the  most  striking  of  all  possible  mani- 
festations of  the  omniscience  and  omnipotence  of  God. 
"To  declare  a  thing  shall  come  to  be,  long  before  it  is 
in  being,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  "  and  then  to  bring 
about  that  very  thing  according  to  the  same  declara- 
tion—  this,  or  nothing,  is  the  work  of  God."  Hume  was 
fully  aware  of  the  force  of  this  kind  of  evidence,  and 
justly,  though  for  an  obvious  reason,  classed  prophecies 
with  miracles,  as  furnishing  proof  of  a  revelation  from 


LECTURE    XI.  323 

God.  Indeed,  a  propliecy  fulfilled  before  our  eves  is 
a  standing  miracle.  Let  it  once  be  made  out  that  a 
religion  is  sustained  by  genuine  prophecies,  and  I  see 
not  how  it  is  possible  that  evidence  should  be  more 
complete  or  satisfactory. 

In  claiming  prophecy  as  a  ground  of  evidence, 
Christianity  again  stands  entirely  by  itself.  Miracles 
and  prophecy  —  those  two  grand  pillars  of  Christian 
evidence  —  are  neither  of  them  even  claimed  by  Mo- 
hammedanism, and  are  neither  of  them  the  ground  on 
which  it  has  been  attempted  to  introduce  any  other 
religion.  Impostors  have  pretended,  and  still  do,  to 
•work  miracles  in  support  of  systems  of  paganism  and 
of  su})erstition  already  established ;  and,  in  the  same 
way,  juggling  oracles  have  been  uttered,  which  seem 
to  have  resembled  modern  fortune-tellinir  far  more 
than  Scripture  prophecy.  Indeed,  the  contrast  is 
not  greater  between  the  Christian  miracles  and  the 
ridiculous  prodigies  of  paganism,  than  it  is  between 
the  prophecies  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  heathen 
oracles.  Those  oracles  were  given  for  purposes  of 
gain,  on  special  application,  to  gratify  curiosity,  or  to 
subserve  the  purposes  of  ambition,  political  or  mili- 
tary ;  all  the  circumstances  under  which  they  were 
given  favored  imposture,  and  the  responses  were  gen- 
erally so  ambiguous,  that  they  would  apply  to  either 
alternative.  "  Thus  when  Croesus  consulted  the  ora- 
cle at  Delphi,  relative  to  his  intended  war  against 
the  Persians,  he  was  told  that  he  would  destroy  a 
great  empire.  This  he  naturally  interpreted  of  his 
overcoming  the  Persians,  though  the  oracle  was  so 
framed  as  to  admit  of  an  opposite  meaning.  Croesus 
made  war  against  the  Persians,  and  was  ruined,  and 


324  LECTURE   XI. 

the  oracle  continued  to  maintain  its  credit."*  But  the 
prophecies  of  the  Scriptures  were  generally  uttered  on 
no  solicitation,  and  never  for  a  selfish  end.  They  relate 
sometimes  to  individuals  and  sometimes  to  nations, 
and  present  us  with  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  its  rise  and  progress,  and  of  those 
events  most  intimately  associated  with  it  till  the  end 
of  time.  They  are  one  great  and  harmonious  system, 
not  one  of  which  can  be  shown  to  have  failed,  com- 
mencing in  the  garden  of  Eden,  uttered  by  persons  of 
the  greatest  variety  of  character,  and  extending  over 
the  space  of  four  thousand  years.  A  system  of  decep- 
tion like  this  could  have  been  undertaken  from  no 
conceivable  motive,  and  could  have  been  executed  by 
no  human  power. 

This  is  a  species  of  evidence  which  invests  the 
Christian  religion,  and  especially  the  coming  of  Christ, 
with  a  peculiar  grandeur.  As  his  coming  is  the  great 
event  to  which  the  Christian  world  must  always  look 
back,  so  prophecy  makes  it  the  great  event  to  which 
the  ancient  church  constantly  looked  forward.  It  makes 
him  the  centre  of  the  system,  the  great  orb  of  moral 
day;  and  prophets  and  holy  men  of  old  it  makes  but 
as  the  stars  and  constellations  that  preceded  and 
heralded  the  brightness  of  his  coming. 

The  evidence  of  prophecy  is  also  constantly  grow- 
ing. This  results,  not  from  the  nature  of  prophecy,  in 
itself  considered,  but  from  the  number  and  nature  of 
those  unfulfilled  prophecies  of  which  there  are  so  many, 
both  in  the  Old  and  in  the  New  Testament.  If  proph- 
ecy has  laid  down  a  map  of  time  till  the    end,  then 


Home. 


LECTURE    XI.  325 

the  evidences  from  it  must  be  more  full  as  the  scroll  of 
Divine  Providence  is  unrolled,  and  is  found  to  corre- 
spond with  this  map.  It  has  even  been  said  that  this 
increasing  evidence  of  prophecy  was  intended  to  act 
as  a  compensation  for  the  decreasing  evidence  of  mira- 
cles ;  but  1  admit  of  no  such  decrease  in  the  evidence 
for  miracles.  We  may  be  as  certain  that  miracles 
were  wrought  as  those  were  who  saw  them;  Just  as  we 
may  be  as  certain  that  Jerusalem  was  besieged  and 
taken  as  those  were  who  saw  it;  but,  in  ])oth  cases, 
according  to  a  common  law  in  respect  to  distance  in 
space  and  time,  the  impression  upon  our  minds  will  be 
less  lively  than  if  it  had  been  produced  by  the  evidence 
of  the  senses,  or  from  a  near  proximity  in  time  or 
space.  We  might  be  as  certain  of  the  fact,  if  tlicre 
had  been  an  earthquake  in  China,  as  if  one  had  swal- 
lowed up  New  Orleans  or  New  York ;  but  how  much 
less  lively  would  be  our  impressions  in  one  case  than 
in  the  other  !  It  was  a  doctrine  of  Hume,  that  belief 
consists  in  liveliness  of  ideas,  and  this  doctrine  of  a 
decreasino;  evidence  for  miracles  seems  to  have  resulted 
from  confounding  these  two. 

The  evidence  from  prophecy,  being  thus  conclusive, 
peculiar,  grand,  and  growing,  cannot  be  omitted; 
though,  if  we  look  at  Christianity  as  merely  requiring 
a  logical  proof,  it  is  not  needed.  But  the  minds 
of  men  are  differently  constituted.  Some  are  more 
struck  with  one  species  of  evidence,  and  some  with 
another;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  the  intention  of 
God  that  his  revelation  should  not  be  without  any 
kind  of  proof  that  could  be  reasonably  demanded, 
nor  without  proof  adapted  to  every  mind.  To  my 
mind,  the  argument    from  the    internal    evidence    is 


326  LECTURE    XL 

conclusive ;  so  is  that  from  testimony ;  and  here  is 
another,  perhaps  not  less  so  even  now,  and  which  is 
destined  to  become  overwhelming.  These  are  inde- 
pendent of  each  other.  They  are  like  separate  nets, 
which  God  has  commanded  those  who  would  be  "  fish- 
ers of  men"  to  stretch  across  the  stream  —  that  stream 
which  leads  to  the  Dead  Sea  of  infidelity  —  so  that  if 
any  evade  the  first,  they  may  be  taken  by  the  second ; 
or,  if  they  can  possibly  pass  the  second,  that  they  may 
not  escape  the  third. 

This  evidence,  so  striking  and  peculiar,  it  has  gen- 
erally been  supposed  it  was  the  object  of  prophecy  to 
give.  That  this  was  one  object  I  cannot  doubt.  It 
may  even  have  been  the  sole  object  of  some  particular 
prophecies,  as  when  Christ  said  to  his  disciples,  re- 
specting the  treachery  of  Judas,  "  Now  I  have  told 
you  before  it  come  to  pass,  that  when  it  is  come  to  pass, 
ye  might  believe."  But,  important  as  this  object  is, 
it  seems  to  me  to  be  only  incidental.  Prophecy 
seems,  like  the  sinlessness  of  Christ,  to  enter  neces- 
sarily into  the  system — to  be  a  part,  not  only  of  the 
evidence  of  the  system,  but  of  the  system  itself.  1 
speak  not  now  of  this  or  that  particular  prophecy ; 
but  I  say  that  the  prophetic  element  causes  the  whole 
system  to  have  a  different  relation  to  the  human  mind, 
and  makes  it  quite  another  thing  as  a  means  of  moral 
culture  and  discipline.  It  is  one  thing  for  the  soldier 
to  march  without  any  knowledge  of  the  places  through 
which  he  is  to  pass,  or  of  that  to  which  he  is  going,  or 
of  the  object  of  the  campaign  ;  and  it  is  quite  another 
for  him  to  have,  not  a  map,  perhaps,  but  a  sketch 
of  the  intended  route,  with  the  principal  cities  through 
which  he  is  to  pass  dotted  down,  and  to  know  what  is 


LECTURE    XI.  327 

intended  to  be  the  termination  and  the  final  object  of  the 
campaign.  It  is  evident  that  in  the  one  case  a  vastly 
wider  range  of  sympathies  will  be  called  into  action 
than  in  the  other.  In  the  latter  case,  the  soldiers  can 
cooperate  far  more  intelligently  with  their  commander- 
in-chief;  they  will  feel  very  differently  as  they  arrive 
at  designated  points,  and  far  higher  will  be  their  en- 
thusiasm as  they  approach  the  end  of  their  march,  and 
the  hour  of  the  final  conflict  draws  on.  And  this  is 
the  relation  in  which  God  has  placed  us,  by  the  pro- 
phetic element  in  revelation,  to  his  great  plans  and 
pur[)oses.  He  has  provided  that  there  shall  be  jnjt 
into  the  hands  of  every  soldier  a  sketch  of  the  route 
which  the  church  militant  is  to  pursue  in  following  the 
Captain  of  her  salvation  ;  and  this  sketch  is  continued 
all  the  way,  till  we  see  the  bannered  host  ])assing 
through  those  triumphal  arches  where  the  everlasting 
doors  have  been  lifted  up  for  their  entrance  into  the 
Jerusalem  above.  This  is  not  merely  to  gratify  curi- 
osity ;  it  is  not  merely  to  give  an  evidence  w  hich 
becomes  completed  only  when  it  is  no  longer  needed  ; 
but  it  is  to  furnish  objects  to  faith  and  affection,  and 
motives  to  effort,  and  to  put  the  mind  of  man  in  that 
relation  to  the  great  plan  of  God  which  properly  be- 
longs to  those  whom  he  calls  his  children  and  his 
friends. 

Objection  has  been  made  to  the  obscurity  of  the 
prophecies.  This  objection  cannot  lie  against  them  as 
indicatino;  the  general  course  of  events,  and  thus  ac- 
com])lishing  the  great  end  for  w^iich  1  suppose  they 
were  given.  Nor  can  it  lie  against  some  of  the  par- 
ticular prophecies,  for  nothing  can  be  more  direct  and 
explicit.     Others,  however,  are  obscure.     The  revela- 


328  LECTURE    XI. 

tions  were  made  by  symbols  which  are  subject  to  their 
own  laws  of  interpretation,  and  the  meaning  of  which 
the  prophets  themselves  did  not  always  understand. 
But  it  is  through  this  very  obscurity,  in  the  exact  de- 
gree in  which  it  exists,  that  many  of  these  prophecies 
furnish  the  highest  possible  evidence  of  their  genuine- 
ness. If  the  object  had  been  to  furnish  the  very  best 
evidence  that  certain  prophecies  were  inspired,  it  could 
have  been  done  only  by  investing  them  with  such  a 
degree  of  obscurity  that  the  events  could  not  have 
been  certainly  recognized  before  their  fulfilment,  and 
yet  by  making  them  so  clear  that  they  could  not  be 
mistaken  afterwards.  And  this  is  precisely  the  princi- 
ple on  which  many  of  the  prophecies  are  constructed. 
Ijooked  at  in  this  point  of  view,  they  show  a  divine 
skill.  If  a  prophecy  had  the  plainness  of  a  narration, 
it  might  be  plausibly  said  that  it  was  the  cause  of  its 
own  fulfilment.  Individuals  wishing  it  to  be  fulfilled 
might  accommodate  themselves  to  the  prophecy,  or,  as 
has  been  done  in  one  famous  instance,*  they  might  en- 
deavor to  prevent  the  fulfilment.  How  eagerly  this 
objection  would  have  been  seized  on  may  be  seen  from 
the  fact  that  Bolingbroke  says,  even  now,  that  Christ 
did  bring  on  his  own  death  wilfully,  that  his  disciples 
might  boast  that  the  prophecies  were  fulfilled  in  him. 
But  when  prophecy,  while  it  spans,  as  with  a  luminous 
arch,  the  whole  canopy  of  time,  and  reveals  some  events 
with  perfect  distinctness,  yet  so  far  shrouds  others  as 
to  show  only  their  general  form,  while  it  so  far  reveals 
them  that  they  cannot  be  mistaken  when  they  stand 
in  the  light  of  actual  fulfilment,  then  we  see  the  cer^ 

*  That  of  Julian. 


LECTURE    XI.  329 

tain  signature  of  a    divine  hand ;  we  have    the    very 
best  evidence  that  the  prophecy  is  from  God. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  a  word  on  another  point. 
Much  has  been  said  of  the  connection  between  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testament.  To  some  it  has  seemed 
that  the  Old  Testament  was  only  a  dead  weight,  and 
that  Christianity  would  move  on  triumphantly  if  it 
were  once  fairly  cut  loose  from  this.  Its  morality  has 
seemed  to  them  barbarous,  and  its  narrations  improba- 
ble. They  would  not,  perhaps,  say  positively  that 
those  events  never  did  take  place,  but  they  greatly 
doubt  whether  they  did,  and  they  talk  of  "  those  old 
myths. '^''  But  I  have  no  fears  that  the  Old  Testament 
will  drag  down  the  New.  I  have  no  wish  to  cut 
Christianity  loose  from  any  connection  with  it,  but 
would  rather  draw  that  connection  closer.  To  me  the 
morality  of  the  Old  Testament  is  the  morality  of  the 
ten  commandments.  I  find  nothing  sanctioned  there 
which  these  would  not  allow,  and  1  wish  for  nothing 
better.  To  me  its  narratives  are  facts;  and  I  remem- 
ber that  the  Saviour  said  of  these  books  that  they 
were  they  which  testified  of  Him. 

With  these  views,  while  1  allow  that  there  are  diffi- 
culties coimected  with  the  proper  interpretation  of  some 
of  the  prophecies,  and  in  a  hw  cases  with  the  manner 
in  which  they  are  referred  to  by  the  New  Testament 
writers,  I  yet  feel  that  there  is  overwhelming  evidence, 

1.  Of  the  fulfilment  of  those  prophecies  which  related 
to    events    that   occurred    before    the   time  of  Christ. 

2.  That  Christ  and  his  apostles  did  claim  that  many 
of  the  Old  Testament  prophecies  were  fulfilled  in  him. 

3.  That  those  prophecies  were  thus  fulfilled.     And, 

42 


330  LECTURE    XI. 

4.  That  not  only  the  prophets  of  old,  but  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  uttered  prophecies  which  have  been  ful- 
filled since  his  time,  and  which  are  in  the  process  of 
fulfilment  now. 

Let  us,  then,  look  at  the  fulfilment  of  those  prophe- 
cies which  related  to  events  that  occurred  before  the 
time  of  Christ.  Of  these  the  number  is  very  great, 
relating  to  the  Jews,  and  to  those  nations  with  whom 
they  were  connected.  Of  those  respecting  the  Jews, 
I  shall  adduce  only  such  as  relate  to  their  Babylonish 
captivity  and  return,  and  of  these  I  can  give  but  single 
specimens  out  of  large  classes  of  passages.  Jeremiah 
says,  (xxxii.  28,)  "  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Be- 
hold, I  will  give  this  city  into  the  hand  of  the  Chal- 
deans, and  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of 
Babylon,  and  he  shall  take  it."  This  is  sufficiently 
explicit  with  respect  to  the  taking  of  the  city.  He 
says  again,  (xxix.  10,)  "For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  that 
after  seventy  years  be  accomplished  at  Babylon  I  will 
visit  you,  and  perform  my  good  word  toward  you,  in 
causing  you  to  return  to  this  place."  Hear,  now,  Isaiah, 
a  hundred  and  sixty  years  before  these  events,  calling 
by  name  and  pointing  out  the  work  of  one  who  was 
not  yet.  Isa.  xliv.  28.  "  That  saith  of  Cyrus,  He  is 
my  shepherd,  and  shall  perform  all  my  pleasure :  even 
saying  to  Jerusalem,  Thou  shalt  be  built ;  and  to  the 
Temple,  Thy  foundation  shall  be  laid."  Now  let  us 
hear  the  decree  of  this  same  Cyrus,  made  at  the  ex- 
piration of  the  seventy  years.  Ezra  i.  2,  3.  "  Thus 
saith  Cyrus,  king  of  Persia,  The  Lord  God  of  heaven 
hath  given  me  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth ;  and  he 
hath  charged  me  to  build  him  a  house  in  Jerusalem, 
which  is  in  Judah.     Who  is  there  among  you  of  all  his 


LECTURE    XI.  331 

people  ?  Ills  God  be  witli  him,  and  let  him  go  up  to 
Jerusalem,  which  is  in  Judah,  and  build  the  house  of 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  (he  is  the  God,)  which  is  in 
Jerusalem."  History  itself  could  not  be  more  plain 
or  specific,  and  such  events  were  plainly  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  sagacity. 

The  nations  chiefly  connected  with  the  Jews  were 
the  Ninevites,  the  Moabites,  the  Ammonites,  the  Phi- 
listines, the  Edomites,  the  Egyptians,  the  Tyrians,  and 
the  Babylonians :  and  concerninir  each  of  these  there 
are  numerous  and  specific  prophecies. 

Of  Nineveh,  that  exceeding  great  city  of  three  days' 
journey,  the  prophet  says,  (Nahum  i.  9,)  "  What 
do  ye  imagine  against  the  Lord  ?  He  will  make  an 
utter  end:  aflfliction  shall  not  rise  up  the  second  time." 
And  says  another  prophet,  (Zeph.  ii.  13,  15,)  "  He 
will  make  Nineveh  a  desolation,  and  dry  like  a  wilder- 
ness. This  is  the  rejoicing  city  that  dwelt  carelessly, 
that  said  in  her  heart,  I  am,  and  there  is  none  beside 
me :  how  is  she  become  a  desolation ! "  Of  the 
Moabites,  and  the  Ammonites,  the  prophet  said, 
(Zeph.  ii.  8,  9,)  "  I  have  heard  the  reproach  of 
Moab,  and  the  revilings  of  the  children  of  Ammon, 
whereby  they  have  reproached  my  people,  and  mag- 
nified themselves  against  their  border.  Therefore,  as 
1  live,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel, 
surely  Moab  shall  be  as  Sodom,  and  the  children  of 
Ammon  as  Gomorrah,  even  the  breeding  of  nettles, 
and  salt  pits,  and  a  perpetual  desolation."  "Moab," 
says  another  prophet,  (Jer.  xlviii.  42,)  "  shall  be 
destroyed  from  being  a  people."  All  this  respecting 
Nineveh,  and  Moab,  and  Ammon,  has  been  literally 
accomplished.     Of  the  Philistines    the    prophet  says, 


332  LECTURE   XI. 

(Zeph.  ii.  4,)  "  Gaza  shall  be  forsaken,  and  Ashkelon 
a  desolation  :  they  shall  drive  out  Ashdod  at  the  noon- 
day, and  Ekron  shall  be  rooted  up."     Of  Edom  the 
prophecies    are    the    more    remarkable,  because  com- 
mentators on   the  Bible  were   long   troubled   to  know 
how  to  dispose  of  them,  and   because  their  literal  and 
exact  fulfilment  has   been  known   only  a  few  years. 
This   country  was  once  a  great  thoroughfare,  and   a 
mart  for  commerce,  and   remained   so  long  after  the 
prophecies  were   uttered.     Here  was   Petra,  that  city 
the  ruins  of  w  hich  have  recently  become  so  celebrated. 
When  this  was  discovered  in  the  midst  of  such  utter 
desolation,  then,  and  not  till  then,  was  the  meaning  of 
such  passages  as  the  following  made  known.     Jer.  xlix. 
16 — 18.     "  Thy  terribleness  hath  deceived  thee,  and 
the   pride  of  thine  heart,  O  thou  that  dwellest   in  the 
clefts  of  the  rock,  that  boldest  the  height  of  the  hill. 
Also  Edom  shall  be  a  desolation  :  every  one  that  goeth 
by  it    shall   be    astonished,   and    shall    hiss  at  all  the 
plagues  thereof.     As  in  the  overthrow  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  and   the  neighbor  cities  thereof,  saith  the 
Lord,  no  man  shall  abide   there,  neither  shall  a  son  of 
man  dwell  in  it,"     The  discovery  of  this  country  and 
its  ruins,  which  no  traveller  seems  to  have  visited  for  a 
thousand  years,  was  like   the   resurrection  of  one  from 
the   dead  to  bear  witness  to   the  literal   truth  of  the 
prophecies  of  God.     Concerning  Egypt,  once  so  mighty, 
it  was  said,  (Ezek.  xxix.  15 ;  xxx.  13,)  "It  shall  be  the 
basest  of  the  kingdoms;  neither  shall  it  exalt  itself  any 
more  above  the  nations:  for  I  will  diminish  them,  that 
they  shall  no  more   rule  over  the   nations.     And  there 
shall  be  no  more  a  prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt."     Upon 
this  passage  the  whole  history  of  Egypt  is  but  one 


LECTURE    XI.  333 

commentary.  The  prophecies  concerning  Tyre  and 
Babylon  are  well  known.  Of  Tyre  it  was  said, 
(Ezek.  xxvi.  4,  5,)  "  And  they  shall  destroy  the  walls 
of  Tyrus,  and  break  down  her  towers :  I  will  also 
scrape  her  dust  from  her,  and  make  her  like  the  top  of  a 
rock.  It  shall  be  a  place  for  the  spreading  of  nets  in 
the  midst  of  the  sea."  Alexander  scraped  the  ruins 
from  the  site  of  the  old  city  for  the  purpose  of  filling 
up  a  passage  to  the  new,  and  the  infidel  Volney  tells 
us  that  it  is  now  a  place  where  the  fishermen  spread 
their  nets.  Of  "Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms,"  it 
was  said,  (Isa.  xiii.  20,  21,)  "  It  shall  never  be  inhab- 
ited, neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation  to 
generation  :  neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there ; 
neither  shall  the  shepherds  make  their  fold  there.  But 
wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there  ;  and  their 
houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures ;  and  owls  shall 
dwell  there,  and  satyrs  shall  dance  there."  No  better 
description  of  the  fate  and  condition  of  Babylon  could 
be  written  now.  These  prophecies  were  literal,  and 
they  have  been  literally  fulfilled.  At  the  time  they 
were  uttered  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  the  proba- 
bility of  such  events.  The  world  had  then  had  no 
experience  of  the  transfer  of  the  seats  of  power  and 
civilization.  How  strange  that  all  these  cities  and 
nations  should  have  perished !  Why  should  not  the 
Moabites,  or  the  Ammonites,  have  remained  a  sep- 
arate people,  as  well  as  the  Jews  or  the  Ishmael- 
ites  ?  The  prophets  of  God  no  longer  wander  over 
those  regions,  but  he  has  not  left  himself  without  a 
witness.  No  voice  could  be  more  eloquent  than  that 
of  those  ruined  cities  and  desolate  kingdoms,  tes- 
tifying how   fearful  a  thing   it   is   to   fall  under   the 


334  LECTURE   XI. 

displeasure  of  God,  and  how  certainly   he   will    exe- 
cute all   his  threatenings. 

I  now  proceed  to  show  that  Christ  and  his  apostles 
did  claim  that  many  of  the  Old  Testament  prophecies 
were  fulfilled  in  him.  This  claim,  it  seems  to  me,  if 
it  could  have  been  made  by  language,  was  made.  I 
shall  cite  a  few  passages,  and  leave  the  audience  to 
judge.  Christ  says,  (John  v.  39,)  "  Search  the  Scrip- 
tures, for  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  John  v. 
46.  "  For  had  ye  believed  Moses,  ye  would  have  be- 
lieved me;  for  he  wrote  of  me."  "  The  Son  of  man," 
said  he,  (Matt.  xxvi.  24,)  "  goeth,  as  it  is  written  of 
him."  Mark  ix.  12.  "  It  is  written  of  the  Son  of 
man,  that  he  must  suffer  many  things."  Luke  xviii. 
31.  "All  things  written  by  the  prophets  concerning 
the  Son  of  man  shall  be  accomplished."  Luke  xxiv. 
25 — 27.  "  Then  he  said  unto  them,  O  fools,  and 
slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  have 
spoken  !  Ought  not  Christ  to  have  suffered  these 
things,  and  to  enter  into  his  glory  ?  And  beginning  at 
Moses,  and  all  the  prophets,  he  expounded  unto  them  in 
all  the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself."  And 
it  was  when  he  thus  opened  to  them  the  Scriptures,  that 
their  hearts  burned  within  them.  Again,  he  said,  (verses 
44 — 46,)  "  All  things  must  be  fulfilled,  which  Avere 
written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  prophets, 
and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning  me.  Then  opened  he 
their  understanding,  that  they  might  understand  the 
Scriptures,  and  said  unto  them.  Thus  it  is  written,  and 
thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the 
dead."  Could  Christ  have  claimed  that  he  was  the 
subject  of  prophecy,  not  only  in  one   portion  of  Scrip- 


LECTURE    XI.  335 

ture,  but  in  all  the  Scriptures,  more  plainly  than  he  did 
claim  it  ?  It  is  obvious,  from  the  narrative,  that  the  ef- 
fect was  scarcely  greater  of  seeing  him  alive,  than  was 
that  produced  by  his  opening  to  them  the  Scriptures. 

But  what  say  the  apostles  ?  "  Paul  went  in  unto 
the  Jews,"  (Acts  xvii.  2,  3,)  "  and  three  Sabbath  days 
reasoned  with  them  out  of  the  Scriptures,  opening  and 
alleging,  that  Christ  must  needs  have  suffered,  and 
risen  again  from  the  dead."  And  the  noble  Bereans 
"  searched  the  Scriptures  daily,  whether  those  things 
were  so."  Again,  (Acts  xxviii.  23,)  Paul  "  expounded 
and  testified  the  kingdom  of  God,  persuading  them 
concerning  Jesus,  both  out  of  the  law  of  Moses,  and  out 
of  the  prophets."  Paul  declared  before  Agrippa  (Acts 
xxvi.  22)  that  he  said  "  none  other  things  than  those 
which  the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say  should  come." 
Apollos  (Acts  xviii.  28)  "  mightily  convinced  the  Jews, 
publicly  showing,  by  the  Scriptures,  that  Jesus  was 
Christ."  Peter,  even  in  his  first  discourse  to  the 
Gentiles,  said,  (Acts  x.  43,)  "  To  him  give  all  the 
prophets  witness."  And  again,  (Acts  iii.  18,)  "Those 
things  which  God  before  had  showed  by  the  mouth  of 
all  his  prophets,  that  Christ  should  suffer,  he  hath  so 
fulfilled."  Again,  (verse  24,)  he  says,  "Yea,  and«// 
the  prophets  from  Samuel,  and  those  that  follow  after, 
as  many  as  have  spoken,  have  likewise  foretold  of 
these  days."  And  Peter  says  expressly  (1  Pet.  i.  10, 
11)  that  "the  prophets  have  inquired  and  searched  dili- 
gently, searching  what  or  what  manner  of  time  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them  did  signify,  when 
it  testified  beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and 
the  glory  that  should  follow." 

To  me  it  seems  that  these  passages  show,  if  any 


336  LECTURE   XI. 

thing  can  show  it,  not  only  that  Christ  and  his  apostles 
claimed  that  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  ful- 
filled in  him,  but  that  the  great  question,  when  they 
attempted  to  convert  the  Jews,  was,  whether  they  had 
been  thus  fulfilled. 

Our  next  inquiry  is,  whether  there  are  prophecies 
in  the  Old  Testament  which  were  thus  fulfilled  in 
Christ. 

And  here  I  hardly  know  what  course  to  take.  I 
might  propound  a  theory,  or  make  general  assertions, 
and  perhaps,  as  has  too  often  been  done,  mystify  the 
subject ;  but  this  would  not  be  proof.  Proof  must  be 
drawn  from  a  comparison  of  Scripture  with  Scripture. 
Hence  only  can  conviction  arise.  Will  the  audience 
then  permit  me  to  present  briefly,  letting  the  Scrip- 
tures speak  for  themselves,  some  corresponding  pas- 
sages of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testament  on  this 
subject?  It  will  be  my  intention  to  produce  no  pas- 
sage which  is  not  applicable;  but,  if  I  should,  it  would 
not  invalidate  the  general  argument.  The  question 
here  is  not  one  of  small  criticism.  It  is  as  when  we 
stand  in  the  light  of  open  day.  We  should  not  deny, 
perhaps,  that  there  might  be  found  dark  corners  into 
which  a  man  could  run  and  see  nothing;  nor  that  so 
small  an  object  as  his  hand  even  might  conceal  from 
him  the  whole  horizon.  So  here,  the  question  is  not 
whether  a  man  may  not  find  some  dark  points,  or  some 
small  objection  which  he  may  hold  in  such  a  position 
as  to  eclipse  the  glory  of  the  whole  prophetic  heavens; 
but  whether  there  is  not,  for  the  candid  mind,  one 
broad  flood  of  light  pouring  out  from  the  prophecies  of 
the  Old  Testament,  the  rays  of  which  converge,  as  in 


LECTURE    XI.  337 

a  halo  of  glory,  around  the  head  of  the  Redeemer. 
We  contend  that  there  is,  and  that  this  light  began 
to  shine  even  before  our  first  parents  were  expelled 
from    Eden. 

Tiie  first  intimation  we  have  of  a  Messiah  was  in 
the  promise  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise 
the  head  of  the  serpent.  Gen.  iii.  15.  In  the  New 
Testament  it  is  said,  "  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made 
of  a  woman."  Gal.  iv.  4.  And  again  ;  He  became 
a  partaker  of  flesh  and  blood,  that  "  through  death  he 
might  destroy  him  tliat  had  the  jwwer  of  death,  that 
is,  the  devil."  Heb.  ii.  14.  The  next  general  intima- 
tion was  given  to  Abraham,  and  his  family  was  pre- 
dicted. "  And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  be  blessed."  Gen.  xxii.  18.  "Now  to  Abraham,", 
says  Paul,  "  and  his  seed,  were  the  promises  made. 
He  saith  not,  And  to  seeds,  as  of  many  ;  but  as  of  one, 
And  to  thy  seed,  which  is  Christ."  Gal.  iii.  16.  "For 
verily  he  took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  he 
took  on  him  the  seed  of  Abraham."  Heb.  ii.  16.  He 
was  to  be  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  "  The  sceptre  shall 
not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between 
his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come  :  and  unto  him  shall  the 
gathering  of  the  people  be."  Gen.  xlix.  10.  "  For 
it  is  evident,"  says  Paul,  "  that  our  Lord  sprang  out 
of  Judah  ;  of  which  tribe  Moses  spake  nothing  con- 
cerning priesthood."  Heb.  vii.  14.  He  was  to  be  of 
the  house  of  David.  "  And  in  that  day  there  shall  be  a 
root  of  Jesse,  which  shall  stand  for  an  ensign  of  the 
people ;  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek :  and  his  rest  shall 
be  glorious."  Isa.  xi.  10.  "Behold,  the  days  come, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous 
Branch,  and  a  King  shall  reign  and  prosper,  and  shall 

43 


338  LECTURE    XI. 

execute  judgment  and  justice  ;  and  this  is  his  name 
whereby  he  shall  be  called,  The  Lord  our  Right- 
eousness." Jer.  xxiii.  5,  6.  Paul  says,  "  Concern- 
ing his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  which  was  made  of 
the  seed  of  David  according  to  the  flesh."  Rom.  i.  3. 
The  place  of  his  birth  was  designated.  "But  thou, 
Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little  among  the 
thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth 
unto  me  that  is  to  be  Ruler  in  Israel ;  whose  goings 
forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting."  Micah 
V.  2.  "  Now,"  says  IVIatthew,  "  when  Jesus  was  born 
in  Bethlehem  of  Judea."  Matt.  ii.  1.  The  time  was 
designated.  It  was  not  only  to  be  before  the  sceptre 
departed  from  Judah,  but  while  the  second  Temple  was 
standing.  "  And  I  will  shake  all  nations,"  says  God 
by  Haggai,  "and  the  Desire  of  all  nations  shall  come: 
and  the  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than 
of  the  former,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Hag.  ii.  7,  9. 
Daniel  also  said,  "  Seventy  weeks  are  determined 
upon  thy  people  and  upon  the  holy  city,  to  finish  the 
transgression,  and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make 
reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  everlasting 
righteousness,  and  to  seal  up  the  vision  and  prophecy, 
and  to  anoint  the  Most  Holy."  Dan.  ix.  24.  Accord- 
ingly we  find,  not  only  from  Jewish  writers,  but  from 
the  most  explicit  passages  in  Tacitus  and  Suetonius, 
that  there  was  a  general  expectation  that  an  extraordi- 
nary person  w^ould  arise  in  Judea  about  that  time.  So 
strong  was  this  expectation  among  the  Jews  as  to 
encourage  numerous  false  Christs  to  appear,  and  to 
enable  them  to  gain  followers,  and  so  certain  were 
they  that  the  Temple  could  not  be  destroyed  before  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah,  that  they  refused  all  terms  from 


LECTURE    XI.  339 

Titus,  and  fought  with  dcsjDcration  till  the  last.  He 
was  to  be  preceded  by  a  remarkable  j)erson  reseinbliiig 
Elijah.  "  Behold,  I  will  send  my  messenger,  and  he 
shall  prepare  the  way  before  me."  Mai.  iii.  1.  "Be- 
hold, I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet  before  the 
coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord." 
Mai.  iv.  5.  "  The  voice  of  him  that  crieth  in  the 
wilderness.  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God."  Isa. 
xl.  3.  "  In  those  days  came  John  the  Baptist,  preach- 
ing in  the  wilderness  of  Judea,  and  saying,  Repent  ye  ; 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  Matt.  iii.  1,  2. 
He  was  to  work  miracles.  "  Then  the  eyes  of  the 
blind  shall  be  opened,  and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  shall 
be  unstopped.  Then  shall  the  lame  man  leap  as  a 
hart,  and  the  ton"ue  of  the  dumb  sin"."  Isa.  xxxv. 
5,  6.  These  are  precisely  the  miracles  recorded  as 
wrought  by  Christ  in  instances  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion. He  was  to  make  a  public  entry  into  Jerusa- 
lem riding  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass.  "  Rejoice 
greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ;  shout,  O  daughter  of 
Jerusalem  :  behold,  thy  King  cometh  unto  thee :  he  is 
just,  and  having  salvation  ;  lowly,  and  riding  upon  an 
ass,  and  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass."  Zech.  ix.  9. 
An  account  of  the  exact  fulfilment  of  this  j)rophecy 
will  be  found  in  the  twenty-first  chapter  of  Matthew. 
He  was  to  be  rejected  of  his  own  countrymen.  "  And 
he  shall  be  for  a  sanctuary ;  but  for  a  stone  of  stum- 
bling and  for  a  rock  of  offence  to  both  the  houses  of 
Israel."  Isa.  viii.  14.  "  He  hath  no  form  nor  come- 
liness;  and  when  we  shall  see  him,  there  is  no  beauty 
that  we  should  desire  him.  He  is  despised  and  reject- 
ed of  men  ;  a  man  of  sorrows,  and   acquainted  with 


340  LECTURE   XI. 

grief:  and  we  hid  as  it  were  our  faces  from  him;  he 
was  despised,  and  we  esteemed  him  not."  Isa.  hii. 
2,  3.  "He  came  unto  his  own,"  says  John,  "and  his 
own  received  him  not."  John  i.  11.  And  again; 
"  Though  he  had  done  so  many  miracles  before  them, 
jet  they  beheved  not  on  him :  that  the  saying  of 
Esaias  the  prophet  might  be  fulfilled,  which  he  spake, 
Lord,  who  hath  believed  our  report?"  —  quoting  the 
first  verse  of  the  fifty-third  of  Isaiah,  and  thus  claim- 
ing it  as  spoken  of  the  Messiah.  And  after  quoting 
another  prophecy,  the  apostle  says,  "  These  things 
said  Esaias,  when  he  saw  his  glory,  and  spake  of  him." 
John  xii.  37, 38,  41 .  He  was  to  be  scourged,  mocked, 
and  spit  upon.  "  I  gave  my  back  to  the  smiters,  and 
my  cheeks  to  them  that  plucked  off  the  hair :  I  hid 
not  my  face  from  shame  and  spitting."  Isa.  1.  6. 
"And  when  he  had  scourged  Jesus,  he  delivered  him 
to  be  crucified."  Matt,  xxvii.  26.  "Then  did  they 
spit  in  his  face,  and  buffeted  him ;  and  others  smote 
him  with  the  palms  of  their  hands."  Matt.  xxvi.  67. 
His  hands  and  his  feet  were  to  be  pierced.  "  The 
assembly  of  the  wicked  have  enclosed  me ;  they 
pierced  my  hands  and  my  feet."  Ps.  xxii.  16.  This  is 
remarkable,  because  the  punishment  of  crucifixion  was 
not  known  among  the  Jews.  He  was  to  be  numbered 
with  the  transgressors.  "  And  he  was  numbered 
with  the  transgressors;  and  he  bare  the  sin  of  many, 
and  made  intercession  for  the  transgressors."  Isa.  liii. 
12.  He  was  to  be  mocked  and  reviled  on  the  cross. 
"  All  they  that  see  me  laugh  me  to  scorn  ;  they  shoot 
out  the  lip,  they  shake  the  head,  saying.  He  trusted  on 
the  Lord  that  he  Avould  deliver  him  :  let  him  deliver 
him,    seeing    he    delighted    in    him."    Ps.  xxii.  7,  8. 


LECTURE    XI.  341 

"  Likewise  also  the  chief  priests,  mocking  him,  with 
the  scribes  and  elders,  said.  He  saved  others  ;  himself 
he  cannot  save.  —  He  trusted  in  God ;  let  him  deliver 
him  710W,  if  he  will  have  him:  for  he  said,  I  am  the 
Son  of  God."  Matt,  xxvii.  41,  42,  43.  He  was  to 
have  gall  and  vinegar  to  drink.  "  Thev  gave  me  also 
gall  for  mv  meat;  and  in  mj  thirst,  they  gave  me 
vinegar  to  drink."  Ps.  Ixix.  21.  "  And  when  thej  were 
come  unto  a  place  called  Golgotha,  that  is  to  say, 
A  place  of  a  skull,  they  gave  him  vinegar  to  drink, 
minorJcd  withmliy  Matt,  xxvii.  3S.  34.  His  garments 
were  to  be  parted,  and  upon  his  vesture  lots  were  to 
be  cast.  "  They  part  my  garments  among  them,  and 
cast  lots  upon  my  vesture."  Ps.  xxii.  18.  "Then  the 
soldiers,  when  they  had  crucified  Jesus,  took  his  gai*- 
ments,  and  made  four  parts,  to  every  soldier  a  part; 
and  also  his  coat :  now  the  coat  was  without  seam, 
woven  from  the  top  throughout.  They  said  therefore 
among  themselves.  Let  us  not  rend  it,  but  cast  lots  for 
it,  whose  it  shall  be  :  that  the  Scripture  might  be  ful- 
filled." John  xix.  23,  24.  He  was  to  be  cut  off  by  a 
violent  death.  "  For  he  was  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of 
the  liviniT."  Isa.  liii.  8.  "  And  after  threescore  and 
two  weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut  off,  but  not  for  him- 
self." Dan.  ix.  26.  He  was  to  be  pierced.  "  And  I 
will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of 
supplications :  and  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they 
have  pierced."  Zech.  xii.  10.  "But  one  of  the  sol- 
diers with  a  spear  pierced  his  side,  and  forthwith  came 
thereout  blood  and  water."  John  xix.  34.  He  was  to 
make  his  grave  with  the  rich.  "  And  he  made  his 
grave   with   the    wicked,    and   with    the    rich   iii    his 


342  LECTURE   XI. 

death."  Isa.  liii.  9.  "When  the  even  was  come, 
there  came  a  rich  man  of  Arimathea,  named  Joseph, 
who  also  himself  was  Jesus'  disciple.  He  went  to 
Pilate,  and  begged  the  body  of  Jesus,  and  laid  it  in 
his  own  new  tomb,  which  he  had  hewn  out  in  the 
rock."  Matt,  xxvii.  57,  58,  60.  He  was  not  to  see 
corruption.  "  For  thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell ; 
neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corrup- 
tion." Ps.  xvi.  10.  "Men  and  brethren,"  says  Peter, 
after  citing  this  passage,  "  let  me  freely  speak  unto 
you  of  the  patriarch  David,  that  he  is  both  dead  and 
buried,  and  his  sepulchre  is  with  us  unto  this  day. 
Therefore  being  a  prophet,  and  knowing  that  God 
had  sworn  with  an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his 
loins,  according  to  the  flesh,  he  would  raise  up  Christ 
to  sit  on  his  throne  ;  he,  seeing  this  before,  spake  of 
the  resurrection  of  Christ,  that  his  soul  was  not  left  in 
hell,  neither  his  flesh  did  see  corruption."  Acts  ii.  29, 
30,  31.  And  yet  there  are  some  who  say  that  these 
prophecies  are  no  prophecies,  and  were  never  claimed 
to  be.  But  I  think  it  evident  that  Peter  did  not  be- 
long, as  an  interpreter  of  prophecy,  to  the  schools  of 
German  neology. 

These  passages  are  far  from  being  all  that  might  be 
adduced.  Respecting  some  of  them  as  they  stand,  a 
person  without  previous  knowledge  would  be  led  to 
ask  the  question  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  "  I  pray 
thee,  of  whom  speaketh  the  prophet  this?  of  himself, 
or  of  some  other  man  ? "  But  when  we  see  these 
passages  brought  together;  when  we  see  their  wonder- 
ful convergence,  so  that  the  history  of  Christ,  from 
his  miraculous  birth — of  the  foretellino;  of  which  I 
have  not  spoken — to  his  death,  was  only  their  coun- 


LECTURE    XI.  343 

terpart;  when  we  find  that  the  Jews  tliemselves 
referred  most  of  them  to  the  Messiah,  and  that  they 
are  expressly  claimed  by  Christ  and  his  aj)ostles,  the 
general  argument  becomes  exceedingly  strong.  How 
strong  it  is  may  be  seen  by  any  one  who  will  attempt 
to  apply  one  tenth  part  of  these  passages  to  any  otiier 
person  that  ever  lived.  Let  him  attempt  to  ap])Iy 
them  to  Titus,  of  whom  .Tosophus  says  that  he  was 
the  extraordinary  person  foretold,  and  see  how  he  will 
succeed.  If  we  admit  that  these  pro))hecies  were  ex- 
tant before  the  coming  of  Christ  —  and  of  this  we  have 
the  best  possible  evidence,  because,  as  was  said  by  an 
ancient  father,  the  Jews,  the  enemies  of  Christianity, 
were  the  librarians  of  Christians  —  and  if  we  estimate 
matliematically,  by  the  doctrine  of  chances,  the  proba- 
bihty  that  these  circumstances  would  meet  in  one 
person,  it  w^ould,  as  is  said  by  Dr.  Gregory,  surpass 
the  powers  of  numbers  to  express  the  immense  im- 
probability of  its  taking  place. 

But,  striking  as  are  these  passages  in  their  applica- 
tion to  Christ,  while  many  of  them,  if  not  applied  to 
him,  would  seem  to  mean  nothing,  they  are  yet  far  from 
giving  the  whole  weight  of  the  argument ;  for  not  only 
were  the  circumstances  of  his  life  and  death  niinutel}^ 
pointed  out,  but  his  ofiices  were  also  described.  He 
was  to  be  a  prophet,  like  unto  Moses.  "  I  will  raise 
them  up  a  Prophet  from  among  their  brethren,  like 
unto  thee,  and  will  put  my  words  in  his  mouth  ;  and 
he  shall  speak  unto  them  all  that  I  shall  command 
him."  Deut.  xviii.  18.  This  is  expressly  quoted  by 
Peter,  in  the  Acts,  (iii.  22,)  as  fulfilled  by  Christ.  He 
was  to  be  a  priest.  "  The  Lord  hath  sworn,  and  will 
.lot  repent,  Thou  art  a  priest  forever  after  the  order 


344  LECTURE    XI. 

of  Melchisedek."  Ps.  ex.  4.  "  Called  of  God,"  says 
Paul,  "  a  high  priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedek." 
Heb.  V.  10.  He  was  to  be  a  king.  "Yet  have  I  set 
my  King  upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion."  Ps.  ii.  6.  "  Thy 
people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  thy  power."  Ps. 
ex.  3.  "  All  power,"  says  Christ,  "  is  given  unto  me 
in  heaven  and  in  earth."  Matt,  xxviii.  18.  "  For  he 
must  reign,"  says  Paul,  "  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies 
under  his  feet."   1  Cor.  xv.  25. 

His  kingdom  was  to  be  one  of  peace.  "  For  unto 
us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given  :  and  the 
government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder :  and  his  name 
shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  The  mighty 
God,  The  everlasting  Father,  The  Prince  of  Peace. 
Of  the  increase  of  his  government  and  peace  there 
shall  be  no  end,  upon  the  throne  of  David,  and  upon 
his  kingdom,  to  order  it,  and  to  establish  it  with  judg- 
ment and  with  justice  from  henceforth,  even  forever." 
Isa.  ix.  6,  7.  "  And  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into 
ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks ; 
nation  shall  not  lift  up  a  sword  against  nation,  neither 
shall  they  learn  war  any  more."  Micali  iv.  3.  "  They 
shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy  mountain." 
Isa.  xi.  9.  His  kingdom  was  also  to  include  the  Gen- 
tiles. "And  he  said.  It  is  a  light  thing  that  thou 
shouldest  be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob, 
and  to  restore  the  preserved  of  Israel :  I  will  also  give 
thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  mayest  be 
my  salvation  unto  the  end  of  the  earth."  Isa.  xlix.  6. 
"  And  the  Gentiles  shall  come  to  thy  light,  and  kings 
to  the  brightness  of  thy  rising.  The  abundance  of  the 
sea  shall  be  converted  unto  thee,  the  forces  of  the 
Gentiles  shall  come  unto  thee."  Isa.  Ix.  3,  5.     This  is 


LECTURE    XI.  345 

especially  remarkable,  because  there  was  nothing  in 
the  feeling  ot"  the  Israelites,  or  in  their  relations  to  the 
nations  around  them,  in  the  time  of  Isaiah,  to  indicate 
the  possibility  of  a  spiritual  and  universal  kingdom,  in 
which  the  Gentiles  should  become  fellow-citizens,  and 
have  equal  privileges  with  the  Jews. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  three  great  offices  of 
prophet,  priest,  and  king,  united  by  proj)hecy  in  one 
person  ;  we  have  a  kingdom  of  peace,  and  that  king- 
dom one  which  was  to  include  all  nations.  How 
perfectly  all  this  is  fulfilled  in  the  person  and  kingdom 
of  Christ  I  need  not  say ;  nor  how  entirely  impossible 
it  would  be  to  make  these  passages  apply  to  any  other 
person  or  kingdom. 

And  not  only  were  these  three  great  offices  united 
in  one  person,  but  the  prophecies  respecting  him  were 
so  apparently  incompatible  and  contradictory  that  it 
must  have  seemed  beforehand  impossible  they  should 
be  fulfilled,  and  they  must  have  caused  great  perplexi- 
ty in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  unwilling  to  receive 
the  word  of  God  and  rest  on  it  by  simple  faith.  Now, 
he  was  represented  as  a  triumphant  conqueror,  as  a 
king  sitting  upon  the  throne  of  David,  and  ruling  all 
nations,  and  now  he  was  spoken  of  as  "  despised  and 
rejected  of  men,"  as  "  oppressed  and  afflicted."  It 
was  said  of  the  Messiah,  "  I  have  set  my  King  upon 
my  holy  hill  of  Zion,"  and  that  "  of  the  increase  of 
his  government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end." 
It  was  also  said  of  him,  "  After  threescore  and  two 
weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cutoff."  What  contradictions, 
might  a  Jew  have  said,  have  we  here  !  A  King  w  ho 
is  to  have  perpetual  dominion,  and  is  to  reign  till  he 
has  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet,  and  yet  is  to  be 


346  LECTURE   XI. 

despised,  and  rejected,  and  oppressed !  A  Messiah 
who  is  to  be  slain,  and  yet  is  to  reign  forever ! 
These  assertions  might,  indeed,  have  been  received 
separately,  by  faith,  as  the  word  of  God ;  a  reasonable 
Jew  would  have  so  received  them ;  but,  before  the 
event,  he  could  not  have  understood  and  reconciled 
them  with  each  other ;  and  yet  the  demand  made 
by  each  of  these  aspects  of  the  prophecy  is  fully  met 
in  Christ. 

How,  then,  can  the  conclusion  be  avoided,  that  these 
prophecies  were  given  by  inspiration  of  God?  Not 
by  the  supposition  that  they  were  fulfilled  by  human 
contrivance,  for  the  enemies  of  Christ,  far  more  than 
his  friends,  contributed  to  that  fulfilment.  As  was 
said  by  Paul,  (Acts  xiii.  27,)  "  They  that  dwell  at  Je- 
rusalem, and  their  rulers,  because  they  knew  him  not, 
nor  yet  the  voices  of  the  prophets  which  are  read 
every  Sabbath  day,  they  have  fulfilled  them  in  con- 
demning him."  It  was  they  that  smote  him,  and  hung 
him  on  a  tree,  and  parted  his  garments  among  them, 
and  cast  lots,  and  pierced  his  side.  It  was  they  who 
paid  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  the  goodly  price  at 
which  they  valued  him,  and  who  bought,  with  the 
price  of  blood,  the  potter's  field.  Nor  can  this  conclu- 
sion be  avoided  on  the  supposition  of  chance  ;  for,  as 
has  already  been  said,  it  would  surpass  the  power  of 
numbers  to  express  the  extreme  improbability  of  the 
fulfilment  of  such  prophecies. 

Nor  is  this  all ;  for  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that 
the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensation,  the  ark 
of  the  covenant,  with  all  its  arrangements,  the  pass- 
over,  the  sacrifices,  the  ceremonies,  the  priesthood, 
were  all  typical,  and  therefore  prophetic ;  and  that  the 


LECTURE    XI.  347 

true  import  and  substance  of  all  these  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Christian  dispensation.  This,  however,  is  a 
great  subject,  and  I  cannot  enter  upon  it. 

We  now  come  to  tlie  fourth  point  mentioned  — 
namely,  that  Christ  and  his  apostles  uttered  prophecies 
which  have  been  fulfilled  since  their  time,  and  which 
are  in  the  process  of  fulfilment  now.  Fully  to  illus- 
trate this  position,  would  require  a  leciure.  I  can  only 
glance  at  it. 

As  the  prophecy  of  Christ  respecting  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  had  for  one  of  its  objects  to  warn 
his  followers  to  escape  from  that  city,  it  was  delivered 
in  the  most  direct  and  explicit  terms.  Before  the  time 
of  Christ,  and  during  his  life,  no  false  Christ  arose  ; 
there  was  no  war,  and  no  prospect  of  one ;  and  the 
Temple,  and  Jerusalem,  were  standing  in  all  their 
strength.  But  he  foretold  that  false  Christs  should 
arise,  and  should  deceive  many ;  that  there  should  be 
earthquakes  and  famine,  and  fearful  sights  in  heaven, 
and  wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  and  great  tribulation, 
such  as  was  not  since  the  beginning  of  the  world,  nor 
ever  should  be  ;  and  that  Jerusalem  should  be  com- 
passed with  armies ;  and  that  a  trench  should  be  cast 
round  about  it ;  and  that  one  stone  of  the  Temple 
should  not  be  left  upon  another;  and  that  the  Jews 
should  be  carried  captive  among  all  nations.  Paul  also 
prophesied  of  the  great  apostasy,  and  the  coming  of 
the  man  of  sin ;  and  John,  in  the  Revelation,  has 
spoken  of  the  course  of  events  till  the  end  of  time. 

To  verify  the  prophecies  of  Christ  respecting  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  events  preceding  it, 
we  have  a  history  of  those  times,  written  by  Josephus 


348  LECTURE    XI. 

an  eye-witness  and  a  Jew ;  and  nothing  can  be  more 
striking  than  a  comparison  of  the  history  and  the 
prophecy.  Josephus  gives  particular  accounts  of  the 
false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  of  their  deceiving 
many.  He  speaks  of  the  distracted  state  of  those 
countries,  corresponding  to  the  prophecy ;  of  wars  and 
rumors  of  wars  ;  and  says  that  the  "  disorders  of  all 
Syria  were  terrible.  For  every  city  was  divided  into 
parties  armed  against  each  other,  and  the  safety  of 
one  depended  on  the  destruction  of  the  other ;  the 
days  were  spent  in  slaughter,  and  the  nights  in  ter- 
rors." He  speaks  also  of  famines,  and  pestilences,  and 
earthquakes,  and  especially  of  "  fearful  sights,  and 
great  signs  from  heaven."  He  tells  us  that  just  before 
the  war,  a  star,  resembling  a  sword,  stood  over  the 
city,  and  a  comet  that  continued  a  whole  year.  That 
"  before  sunsetting,  chariots,  and  troops  of  soldiers 
in  their  armor,  were  seen  running  about  among  the 
clouds,  and  surrounding  cities."  He  says,  also,  "  At 
the  feast  of  Pentecost,  as  the  priests  were  going  by 
night  into  the  inner  court  of  the  Temple,  they  felt  a 
quaking,  and  heard  a  great  noise,  and,  after  that,  they 
heard  the  sound  as  of  a  multitude,  saying,  '  Let  us 
depart  hence ! '  "  Nor  is  Josephus  alone  in  giving  these 
accounts.  Tacitus,  also,  says,  "  There  w^ere  many 
prodigies  presignifying  their  ruin,  which  was  not 
averted  by  all  the  sacrifices  and  vows  of  that  people. 
Armies  were  seen  fighting  in  the  air  with  brandished 
weapons.  A  fire  fell  upon  the  Temple  from  the  clouds. 
The  doors  of  the  Temple  were  suddenly  opened.  At 
the  same  time  there  was  a  loud  voice  declaring  that 
the  gods  were  removing,  which  was  accompanied  with 
a  sound  as  of  a  multitude  going  out.     All  which  things 


LECTURE    XI.  349 

were  supposed,  by  some,  to  portend  great  calamities." 
He  speaks,  also,  of  the  fact  that  Jerusalem  was  com- 
passed by  an  army  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and 
that,  owing  to  the  state  of  parties,  many  of  the  prin- 
cipal men  were  about  to  o])en  the  gates ;  but  says 
that  the  Roman  general  recalled  the  soldiers  from  the 
place  without  having  received  any  defeat,  and  retired 
from  the  city,  without  any  reason  in  the  world.  He 
then  mentions  that,  when  the  Roman  armies  ap- 
proached again,  a  great  multitude  fled  to  the  moun- 
tains. Thus  a  way  was  made  for  the  disciples  of 
Christ  to  escape,  and  it  is  not  known  that  a  single  one 
of  them  perished  in  that  destruction.  It  really  seems 
to  have  prefigured  the  final  destruction  of  the  wicked, 
when  the  righteous  shall  all  have  been  gathered  from 
among  them.  Josephus  also  speaks  particularly  of 
the  trench  and  wall  which  were  made  about  Jerusalem 
by  Titus.  This  was  done  with  great  difficulty,  and, 
except  for  the  purpose  of  a  little  more  speedy  reduc- 
tion of  the  city,  without  necessity,  and  was  contrary 
to  the  advice  of  the  chief  men  of  Titus.  But  so  it 
was  written.  In  respect  to  the  tribulation  of  those 
days,  of  which  our  Saviour  speaks  so  strongly,  if  the 
purpose  of  Josephus  had  been  to  confirm  the  words  of 
the  prophecy,  he  could  have  said  nothing  more  to  the 
point.  "  No  other  city,"  says  he,  "ever  suffered  such 
miseries ;  nor  was  there  ever  a  generation  more  fruit- 
ful in  wickedness  from  the  beginning  of  the  world." 
Again  ;  "  It  appears  to  me  that  the  misfortunes  of  all 
men,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  if  they  be 
compared  to  those  of  the  Jews,  are  not  so  considera- 
ble. For  in  reality  it  was  God  who  condemned  the 
whole  nation,  and  turned  every  course  that  was  taken 


350  LECTURE   XI. 

for  their  preservation  to  their  destruction."  And 
again ;  "  The  multitude  of  those  who  perished  exceed- 
ed all  the  destructions  that  man  or  God  ever  brought 
upon  the  world."  The  great  mass  of  the  nation  was 
gathered  within  the  city.  They  were  divided  into  con- 
tending factions,  who  fought  with  the  fury  of  fiends 
against  each  other.     Famine  did  its  slow  but  fearful 

a 

work,  so  that  women  were  known  to  eat  their  own 
children.  And  while  those  within  were  thus  the  prey 
of  famine  and  of  each  other,  those  who  attempted  to 
escape  were  taken  by  the  Roman  soldiers  and  nailed 
on  crosses,  some  one  way,  some  another,  as  it  were 
in  jest,  around  the  outside  of  the  walls,  till  so  great 
was  the  number,  that  room  was  wanting  for  crosses, 
and  crosses  for  bodies.  As  Titus  beheld  the  dead 
bodies  that  had  been  thrown  from  the  w^alls  into  the 
valleys,  "  he  lifted  up  his  hands  to  heaven,  and  called 
God  to  witness  that  this  was  not  his  doing."  These 
were  "  the  days  of  vengeance;"  and  it  is  computed  by 
Josephus  that  upwards  of  one  million  three  hundred 
thousand  persons  perished  in  the  siege  of  Jerusalem 
alone.  And  not  only  so,  but,  when  the  city  was  taken, 
it  was,  contrary  to  the  wish  of  Titus,  devoted  to  utter 
destruction;  and  the  prophecy  of  Christ,  that  not  one 
stone  of  the  Temple  should  be  left  upon  another,  was 
literally  fulfilled. 

Of  the  other  prophecies  I  have  not  time  to  speak ; 
but  the  Jews  were  carried  into  captivity  among  all 
nations,  and  their  condition  from  that  time  till  now  has 
been  a  standing  and  wonderful  attestation  of  the  truth 
of  the  prophetic  record,  while  their  present  condition 
is  an  evident  preparation  for  the  fulfilment  of  those 
still  more  wonderful   prophecies  which  now  stand  like 


LECTURE  XI.  351 

the  bow  of  promise,  overarching  the  future.  Accord- 
ing to  tliat  expression  of  the  prophet,  so  wonderfully 
accurate,  they  have  been  sifted  among  all  nations  ;  yet 
have  they,  of  all  ancient  people  similarly  situated,  alone 
preserved  their  identity,  and  now  seem  to  be  preparing 
for  that  restoration  which  shall  not  only  be  to  th(;m  the 
fuUilment  of  the  prophecies,  but  shall  be  as  Hfe  from 
the  dead  to  the  Gentile  nations. 

Thus,  whether  we  look  at  the  prophecies  that  re- 
lated to  events  before  the  time  of  Christ,  or  to  those 
relating  to  him,  or  to  those  which  he  uttered,  or  to  the 
present  state  of  the  Jews,  and  indeed  of  the  world,  as 
indicating  a  complete  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies,  we 
shall  see  the  fullest  reason  to  believe  that  "  the  proph- 
ecy came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man,  but  that 
holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

I  will  only  add,  as  a  beautiful  instance  of  the  con- 
sistency of  all  Scripture,  that  the  magnificent  pictures 
of  the  prophets,  respecting  a  state  of  future  blessedness 
on  earth,  are  just  such  as  would  be  realized  by  the 
entire  prevalence  of  Christianity,  and  by  nothing  else. 
These  pictures  are  not  drawn  at  random,  or  in  general 
terms.  They  are  precise  and  definite.  They  rep- 
resent a  state  of  peace,  and  purity,  and  love  —  of  high 
social  enjoyment,  and  of  universal  prosperity.  And  it 
is  only  by  the  prevalence  of  Christianity  that  such  a 
state  of  things  can  be  realized.  Let  this  become 
universally  prevalent,  not  in  its  form  only,  but  in  its 
spirit,  and  then  nation  would  no  more  lift  up  sword 
against  nation,  neither  would  they  learn  war  any 
more  ;  then  the  wolf  also  would  dwell  with  the  lamb, 


352  LECTURE    XI. 

and  the  leopard  lie  down  with  the  kid ;  then  would 
the  wilderness  and  solitary  place  he  glad  for  them, 
and  the  desert  rejoice ;  then,  instead  of  the  thorn 
would  come  up  the  fir-tree,  and  instead  of  the  brier 
would  come  up  the  myrtle-tree;  then  would  the  in- 
habitants of  the  rock  sing,  and  shout  from  the  top 
of  the  mountains ;  the  people  would  be  all  righteous, 
and  inherit  the  land  forever. 


LECTURE   XIL 


OBJECTIONS.  — THE  PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  —  ITS 
EFFECTS  AND  TENDENCIES.  —  SUMMARY  AND  CONCLU- 
SION. 

It  has  been  my  wish  to  present,  in  this  course  of 
lectures,  as  I  was  able,  the  positive  argument  for  Chris- 
tianity. I  commenced  the  course  with  an  invitation 
to  the  audience  to  go  with  me  round  about  our  Zion, 
and  tell  the  towers  thereof.  Those  towers  are  not  yet 
all  told.  To  some  of  the  most  common  and  effective 
topics  of  argument  I  have  yet  scarcely  referred,  and  I 
ought,  in  logical  order,  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  con- 
sideration of  them.  This  I  have  thought  of  doing, 
and  of  omitting  to  say  any  thing  upon  the  objections 
against  Christianity.  If  the  time  would  admit  of  it, 
I  should  be  pleased  to  devote  at  least  a  lecture  to  the 
consideration  of  these ;  for,  while  there  are  objections 
which  are  unworthy  of  an  answer,  —  while  there  are 
persons,  who  make  them,  who  would  be  no  nearer  be- 
coming Christians  if  their  objections  were  all  removed, 
—  there  are  objections,  the  force  of  which  1  think  may 
be  removed,  that  weigh  heavily  upon  some  who  are 
sincerely  inquiring  for  the  truth.  To  every  such  indi- 
vidual I  would  give  my  hand.  I  would  make  any 
effort  to  relieve  him.     I  know  what  it  is  to  wade  in 

4& 


354  LECTURE    XII. 

the  deep  waters  of  doubt,  and  the  blessedness  of  find- 
ing what  seems  to  me  to  be  the  rock.  For  the  sake 
of  such  I  would  gladly  dwell  upon  this  point  at  length ; 
but  as  that  is  now  out  of  the  question,  I  will  make  a 
few  observations  on  the  subject  of  objections  generally, 
and  then  go  on  with  the  argument. 

And  here,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  drop  a  word  in 
a   more  familiar    way  in   the   ear  of  the  candid    and 
practical  inquirer,  referring  to  my  own  experience,  I 
would  say,  that  I   have   found  great  benefit  in  being 
willing — a  lesson  which  we  are  all  slow  to  learn  —  to 
wait.     It   has  not   unfrequendy  occurred  that  I  have 
stood  in  such  an  attitude  (perhaps  for  months  or  years 
together)  to  a  certain  objection  as  to  see  no  way  of 
evading  it,  till,  at  length,  light  would  break  in,  and  I 
could   see    with    perfect   distinctness    that  there    was 
nothing  in  it.     Are  there  not  many  here  who  have  un- 
expectedly met  with  something  which  has  removed,  in 
a  moment,  objections  which    have   lain    with  weight 
upon  their  minds  for  years  ?     I  well  remember  when 
it  seemed  to  me  that  there  was  a  direct  contradiction 
between  Paul  and  James,  on  the  subject  of  faith  and 
works.     It  seemed  so  to  Luther,  and,  because  he  could 
not  reconcile  them,  and  was  unwilling  to  wait,  he  re- 
jected the  Epistle  of  James,  calling  it  a  strawy  Epistle. 
I  can  now  see  that  Paul  and  James,  not  only  do  not 
contradict    each    other,    but  harmonize    perfectly.      I 
have   sometimes  compared  the  path  of  a   sincere   in- 
quirer to  a  road  that  winds  among  the  hills.     Who  has 
not  seen  the  hills,  perhaps  the  high  mountains,  closing 
down  upon  such  a  road  so  as  to  render  it  apparently 
impossible  he  should  proceed ;  and  who  has  not  been 
surprised,  when  he  reached  the  proper  point  to  see  it, 


LECTURE    XII  355 

to  find  the  road  taking  an  unexpected  turn,  and  hold- 
ing on  its  own  level  way.  And  to  such  a  point  I 
think  every  sincere  inquirer  will  come,  who  is  willing 
to  follow  the  right  path  so  far  as  he  can  find  it,  and  to 
wait,  putting  up  the  petition,  and  adopting  the  resolu- 
tion, of  Elihu,  —  "That  which  I  see  not,  teach  thou 
me ;  if  I  have  done  iniquity,  I  will  do  no  more."  I 
have  the  fullest  conviction,  not  only  of  the  truth,  but 
of  the  philosophical  profoundness,  of  that  saying  of  our 
Saviour,  — "  If  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know 
of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  he  of  God,  or  whether  I 
speak  of  myself." 

But,  leaving  this,  I  observe,  in  the  first  place,  that 
we  are  not  to  have  our  confidence  in  the  Christian 
religion  shaken,  from  the  mere  fact  that  objections  can 
be  made  against  it.  There  are  those  who  seem  to 
think  that,  if  an  objection  can  be  made,  some  degree 
of  uncertainty  is  introduced  at  once,  and  that  there 
comes  to  be  a  balance  of  probabilities.  But  this  is 
not  so.  When  once  a  thing  is  fairly  proved,  all  objec- 
tions must  go  for  nothing.  Very  plausible  objections 
may  be  made  to  many  things  which  we  yet  know  to 
be  true.  Thus  objections  have  been  made  to  the 
existence  of  matter,  and  to  the  truth  of  the  evidence 
of  the  senses,  which  a  plain  jnan  would  find  it  difficult 
to  answer,  and  which  yet  would  have  no  weight  with 
him  whatever.  We  all  believe  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  motion,  and  yet  there  may  be  some  here  who  would 
find  it  difficult  to  answer  the  common  logical  objection 
against  it.  Let  me  put  that  objection.  You  will,  I 
suppose,  all  agree  that,  if  any  thing  moves,  it  must 
move  either  where  it  is,  or  where  it  is  not.  But  cer- 
tainly nothing  can  move  where  it  is,  for  that  would  not 


356  LECTURE    XII. 

be  moving  at  all ;  and  it  would  seem  quite  as  certain 
that  nothing  could  move  where  it  is  not ;  and  hence 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  motion.  "  There  are  objec- 
tions," says  Dr.  Johnson,  "  to  a  vacuum^  and  there  are 
objections  to  a  plenum  ;  but  one  of  these  must  be  true." 
But  to  any  one  who  has  been  turned  aside,  and  is 
eddying  round  among  these  shoals  of  doubt,  I  would 
recommend  that  masterly  pamphlet,  by  VVhately,  the 
"  Historic  Doubts  respecting  the  Existence  and  Acts 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte."  I  think  it  would  lead  him 
to  see  that  there  may  be  plausible  objections  against 
that  concerning  which  there  cannot  be  the  least  doubt. 
I  observe,  secondly,  that,  if  we  would  consider  the 
objections  against  Christianity  fairly,  we  must  distin- 
guish those  which  lie  against  Christianity,  as  such,  from 
those  which  may  be  made  equally  against  any  religion 
or  scheme  of  belief  whatever.  This  world  is  in  a 
strange  state.  There  is  a  condition  of  things  very 
different  from  what  we  should  suppose,  beforehand, 
there  would  be,  under  the  government  of  a  God  of 
infinite  power,  and  wisdom,  and  goodness  ;  and  it  is  not 
uncommon  for  men  to  burden  Christianity  with  all  the 
difficulties  that  are  connected  with  the  origin  of  evil, 
or  the  doctrine  of  the  foreknowledge  of  God  as  con- 
nected  with  human  freedom.  But  these  are  questions 
that  belong  to  the  race,  and  have  equally  exercised  the 
mind  of  the  Grecian  philosopher,  of  the  Persian  sage, 
and  of  the  Christian  divine.  You,  as  a  man,  may  be 
as  properly  called  on  to  solve  any  difficulties  arising  out 
of  such  questions,  as  I  can  as  a  teacher  of  Christianity. 
Christianity  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  origin  of  evil. 
It  takes  for  granted,  what  we  must  all  admit,  that  it 
exists  ;  it  does  not  attempt  to  account  for  its  origin, 


LECTURE    XII.  357 

but  it  proposes  a  remedy.  If,  then,  men  object  to 
Christianity,  let  them  object  to  it  as  wliat  it  chiims 
to  be.  Let  them  show  that,  when  fairly  received  and 
fully  practised  by  all  men,  it  would  not  be  the  remedy 
which  it  claims  to  be,  and  their  objections  will  In)  valid. 
It  is  of  no  avail  for  inlidels  and  deists  to  shoot  arrows 
against  Christianity  which  may  be  picked  up  and  shot 
back  with  equal  force  against  their  own  systems ;  and 
yet  a  much  larger  portion  of  the  objections  against 
Christianity  than  is  commonly  supposed  is  of  this 
character. 

I  observe,  thirdly,  that  we  are  to  keep  in  mind  the 
distinction  of  Butler,  already  referred  to,  between  ob- 
jections against  Christianity  and  objections  against  its 
evidence.  Of  the  evidence  for  Christianity  we  are 
capable  of  judging.  I  insist  ujion  it  that  there  are 
laws  of  evidence,  which  any  man  of  good  sense  can 
understand,  according  to  which  we  judge  and  act  in 
other  cases ;  and  I  only  ask  that  these  same  laws  may 
be  applied  to  Christianity,  as  a  matter  of  fact  and  a 
ground  of  action,  just  as  they  would  be  to  any  thing 
else.  But  of  Christianity  itself,  as  a  part  of  an  infinite 
scheme  of  moral  government,  having  relation  to  the 
eternity  that  is  past  and  to  that  which  is  to  come,  and 
perhaps  to  other  worlds  and  to  other  orders  of  being, 
we  ought  as  much  to  expect  that  we  should  find  in  it 
things  beyond  our  reach,  and  which  would  seem  to  us 
strange  and  objectionable,  as  that  there  would  be  such 
things  in  nature.  And  if,  as  Butler  has  most  fully 
shown,  the  objections  which  are  made  against  Chris- 
tianity are  of  the  same  kind  with  those  which  may  be 
made  against  nature,  then  those  very  objections  are 
turned  into  arguments  in  its  favor,  as  they  show  the 


358  LECTURE   XII. 

probability  that  Christianity  and  nature  came  from  the 
same  hand.  Here  is  one  principal  source  of  the  power 
of  Butler's  great  work.  It  shows  that  all  the  chief 
objections  which  are  urged  against  Christianity  may 
be  urged  equally  against  the  constitution  and  course  of 
nature,  and  would  equally  show  that  that  was  not  from 
God.  If  Christianity  itself  can  be  shown  to  be  either 
immoral  or  absurd,  we  will  reject  it ;  but,  with  these 
exceptions,  objections  to  Christianity  on  the  part  of 
such  a  being  as  man,  as  distinguished  from  objections 
against  its  evidence,  are,  in  the  language  of  Butler, 
"  frivolous."  Nor  in  saying  this  do  we  undervalue 
reason,  or  refuse  to  give  it  its  true  place.  To  quote 
Butler  again,  "  Let  reason  be  kept  to ;  and  if  any  part 
of  the  Scripture  account  of  the  redemption  of  the 
world  by  Christ  can  be  shown  to  be  really  contrary 
to  it,  let  the  Scripture,  in  the  name  of  God,  be  given 
up  ;  but  let  not  such  poor  creatures  as  we  go  on  object- 
ing, against  an  infinite  scheme,  that  w^e  do  not  see  the 
necessity  and  usefulness  of  all  its  parts,  and  call  this 
reasoning." 

But,  fourthly,  we  are  to  observe  that  Christianity 
is  not  the  only  scheme  against  which  objections  can  be 
made.  From  its  position,  its  success,  its  uncompro- 
mising claims,  Christianity  has  been  met  from  the  first 
by  every  objection  that  ingenuity,  quickened  by  a  love 
of  pleasure  and  hatred  of  restraint,  could  invent ;  and, 
from  the  constancy  with  which  these  have  been  plied, 
it  has  been  felt  by  many  that  Christianity  was  espe- 
cially liable  to  objections.  It  has  hence  been  the  habit 
of  many  Christians  to  stand  on  the  defensive,  and  in- 
fidels have  felt  that  it  was  their  place  to  attack.  In 
proportion  as  any  scheme  has  about   it  more  that  is 


LECTURE    XII.  359 

positive,  it  of  course  presents  a  larger  surface  for  ob- 
jections;  but  as  for  as  other  schemes  have  any  thing 
positive  about  them,  they  are  equally  liable  to  objec- 
tions with  Christianity,  and  have  none  of  its  evidence. 
And  the  only  reason  that  these  schemes  have  not  been 
as  much  objected  against  is,  that  men  do  not  care 
enough  about  them.  If  an  inlidel  has  nothing  positive 
in  his  belief,  then,  of  course,  nothing  can  be  objected 
to  it.  But  if  it  were  possible,  as  it  is  not,  for  any  man 
to  take  such  a  position,  we  should  object  to  that.  We 
say  that  it  is  a  state  of  mind  from  which  no  good  can 
possibly  come,  either  to  the  individual  or  the  com- 
munity. It  is  a  poor,  cold,  heartless  state,  furnishing 
no  ground  for  hope,  no  elevation  to  character,  no  mo- 
tive to  effort,  that  has  no  adaptation  to  the  wants  of 
man  even  in  prosperity,  and  that  must  utterly  fail  him 
in  those  trying  hours  when  he  needs  such  supports  as 
religion  only  can  give.  It  can  be  made  to  appear,  from 
the  very  laws  of  mind,  that  great  achievements,  power- 
ful exertions,  self-denying  labors  and  sacrifices,  must 
spring  from  a  vigorous  faith ;  and  that,  in  proportion  as 
a  belief,  or  a  religion,  becomes  one  of  negations,  it 
must  lower  the  pulse  of  intellectual,  and  especially  of 
moral  life.  Let  a  man,  however,  have  any  thing  pos- 
itive in  his  belief — let  him  bring  forward  his  own  solu- 
tion of  the  great  problems  which  must  be  connected  in 
the  mind  of  every  thinking  man  with  human  life  and 
destiny  —  and  it  would  be  no  difficult  matter,  a  very 
child  could  do  it,  to  start  objections  against  that  solu- 
tion, whatever  it  might  be,  which  it  would  trouble  the 
wisest  infidel  to  meet.  Hence  I  have  sometimes  been 
amused  at  the  effect,  upon  a  noisy  and  boastful  objector, 
of  a  quiet  question  or  two  in  regard  to  his  own  belief. 


360  LECTURE    XII. 

I  have  seen  those  to  whom  it  never  seemed  to  have 
occurred  that  we  were  thrown  into  this  world  together 
with  certain  great  common  difficulties,  and  that  other 
people  could  ask  questions  as  well  as  they.  Whenever, 
indeed,  infidelitj  has  thus  assumed  a  positive  form,  it 
has  been  met  and  fairly  driven  from  the  field ;  and 
now,  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  the  prevalent  form  of 
it  is.  It  has  always  been  Ishmaelitish  in  its  habits, 
pitching  its  tent  now  here  and  now  there,  and  con- 
stantly varying  its  mode  of  attack.  The  infidelity  of 
one  age  is  not  that  of  another,  while  Christianity  re- 
mains ever  the  same.  And  so  we  are  to  expect  it  will 
be  while  the  human  heart  remains  what  it  is.  Infi- 
delity will  exist.  There  is  at  present  more  of  it  than 
appears.  Not  being  reputable  in  its  own  form,  it  con- 
ceals itself  under  various  disguises.  But  the  infidelity 
that  springs  from  the  heart  is  not  to  be  reached  by  a 
course  of  lectures  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity. 
As  I  have  already  said,  argument  did  not  cause,  and 
argument  will  not  remove  it.  For  that,  we  look  to  a 
higher  power. 

I  now  proceed  with  the  evidence.  As  yet  1  have 
said  nothing  of  the  argument  to  be  derived  from  the 
mode  and  circumstances  of  the  propagation  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  have  only  incidentally  alluded  to  its  effects 
and  tendencies.  Each  of  these  is  a  standing  topic  of 
argument  on  this  subject,  and,  when  properly  presented, 
sufficient  of  itself  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
religion.  But,  with  the  time  which  now  remains,  I 
shall  be  able  to  do  little  more  than  to  indicate  the  place 
which  these  arguments  hold,  without  giving  them  their 
proper  expansion  and  force.     These  topics  of  argument 


LECTURE   XII.  361 

are  entirely  distinct  in  their  nature,  but  are  so  con- 
nected at  certain  points  that  it  is  diflicult  to  treat 
of  one,  without  involving  considerations  which  belong 
also  to  the  other. 

First,  then,  of  the  propagation  of  Christianity :  And 
in  speaking  of  this  subject,  I  will  notice,  1,  the  facts; 
2,  the  difficulties ;  and,  3,  the  instrumentality.  This 
subject  has  been  ably  treated  by  Bishop  M'llvaine,  in  his 
excellent  lectures  on  the  evidences,  and  I  shall  avail  my- 
self of  his  labors  in  presenting  it.*  It  would  appear, 
then,  that  on  the  fiftieth  day  after  the  death  of  Christ 
the  apostles  commenced  their  labors.  "  Beginning  in 
Jerusalem,  the  very  furnace  of  persecution,  they  first 
set  up  their  banner  in  the  midst  of  those  who  had  been 
first  in  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  and  were  all  elate  with 
the  triumph  of  that  tragedy.  No  assemblage  could 
have  been  more  possessed  of  dispositions  perfectly  at 
war  with  their  message  than  that  to  which  they  made 
their  first  address."  And  what  was  the  tenor  of  the 
address  ?  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth,"  said  Peter,  "  being  de- 
livered by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge 
of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  cru- 
cified and  slain;  whom  God  hath  raised  up.  —  There- 
fore let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know  assuredly,  that 
God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus,  whom  ye  have  cru- 
cified, both  Lord  and  Christ."  One  would  have  sup- 
posed that  the  same  hands  that  had  rioted  in  the  blood 
of  his  Master  would  now  have  wreaked  their  enmity  in 
that  of  this  daring,  and,  to  all  human  view,  most  im- 
politic apostle.  But  what  ensued  ?  Three  thousand 
souls  were  that  day  added  to  the  infant  church.     In  a 

*  Lecture  ix. 

46 


362  LECTURE    XII. 

few  days,  the  number  was  increased  to  five  thousand ; 
and  in  the  space  of  about  a  year  and  a  half,  though  the 
gospel  was  preached  only  in  Jerusalem  and  its  vicinity, 
multitudes,  both  of  men  and  women,  and  a  great  com- 
pany of  the  priests,  were  obedient  to  the  faith.  Now, 
the  converts,  being  driven  by  a  fierce  persecution  from 
Jerusalem,  went  every  where  preaching  the  word,  and 
in  less  than  three  years  churches  were  gathered  through- 
out all  Judea,  Galilee,  and  Samaria,  and  were  multi- 
plied. About  two  years  after  this,  or  seven  from  the 
beginning  of  the  w^ork,  the  gospel  was  first  preached  to 
the  Gentiles ;  and  such  was  the  success  that,  before 
thirty  years  had  elapsed  from  the  death  of  Christ, 
his  church  had  spread  from  Palestine  throughout 
Syria  ;  through  almost  all  the  numerous  districts  of 
Lesser  Asia  ;  through  Greece,  and  the  islands  of  the 
iEgean  Sea,  the  sea-coast  of  Africa,  and  even  into 
Italy  and  Rome.  The  number  of  converts  in  the 
several  cities  respectively  is  described  by  the  expres- 
sions, "  a  great  number,"  "  great  multitudes,"  "  much 
people."  What  an  extensive  impression  had  been 
made  is  obvious  from  the  outcry  of  the  opposers  at 
Thessalonica,  that  "  they  who  had  turned  the  world 
upside-down  were  come  hither  also."  Demetrius,  an 
enemy,  complained  of  Paul,  "  that  not  alone  at  Ephesus, 
but  almost  throughout  all  Asia,"  he  had  persuaded  and 
turned  away  much  people.  In  the  mean  while,  Je- 
rusalem, the  chief  seat  of  Jewish  rancor,  continued  the 
metropolis  of  the  gospel,  having  in  it  many  tens  of 
thousands  of  believers.  These  accounts  are  taken  * 
from  the  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  but  as  this 
book  is  almost  confined  to  the  labors  of  Paul  and  his 
immediate  companions,  saying  very  little  of  the  other 


LECTURE    XII.  363 

apostles,  it  is  very  certain  that  the  view  we  have 
given  of  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  during  the 
lirst  thirty  years  is  very  incomplete.  In  the  thirtieth 
year  after  the  beginning  of  the  work,  the  terrible  per- 
secution under  Nero  kindled  its  fires  ;  then  Christians 
had  become  so  numerous  at  Rome,  that,  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Tacitus,  a  "  great  multitude  "  were  seized. 
In  forty  years  more,  we  are  told,  in  a  celebrated  letter 
from  Pliny,  the  Roman  governor  of  Pontus  and  By- 
thinia,  Christianity  had  long  subsisted  in  these  prov- 
inces, though  so  remote  from  Judea.  Many  of  all  ages 
and  of  every  rank,  of  both  sexes  likewise,  were  accused 
to  Pliny  of  being  Christians.  What  he  calls  the  con- 
tagion of  this  superstition  (thus  forcibly  describing  the 
irresistible  and  rapid  progress  of  Christianity)  had 
seized  not  cities  only,  but  the  less  towns  also,  and  the 
open  country,  so  that  the  heathen  temples  "  were 
almost  forsaken ;  "  few  victims  were  purchased  for  sac- 
rifice, and  a  long  intermission  of  the  sacred  solemnities 
had  taken  place.  Justin  Martyr,  who  wrote  about 
thirty  years  after  Pliny,  and  one  hundred  after  the 
gospel  was  first  preached  to  the  Gentiles,  thus  de- 
scribes the  extent  of  Christianity  in  his  time  :  "There 
is  not  a  nation,  either  Greek  or  barbarian,  or  of  any 
other  name,  even  those  who  wander  in  tribes  and  live 
in  tents,  among  whom  prayers  and  thanksgivings  are 
not  offered  to  the  Father  and  Creator  of  the  universe 
by  the  name  of  the  crucified  Jesus."  Clemens  Alex- 
andrinus,  a  few  years  after,  thus  writes  :  "  The  philoso- 
phers were  confined  to  Greece,  and  to  their  particular 
retainers ;  but  the  doctrine  of  the  Master  of  Christianity 
did  not  remain  in  Judea,  but  is  spread  throughout  the 
whole  world,  in  every  nation,  and  village,   and  city, 


364  LECTURE    XII. 

converting  both  whole  houses  and  separate  individuals, 
having  already  brought  over  to  the  truth  not  a  few  of 
the  philosophers  themselves.  If  the  Greek  philosophy 
be  prohibited,  it  immediately  vanishes  ;  whereas,  from 
the  first  preaching  of  our  doctrine,  kings  and  tyrants, 
governors  and  presidents,  with  their  whole  train,  and 
with  the  populace  on  their  side,  have  endeavored  with 
their  whole  might  to  exterminate  it,  yet  doth  it  flourish 
more  and  more."  Nothing  can  so  well  represent  the 
mode  in  which  this  extension  took  place  as  the  com- 
parison, by  our  Saviour,  of  Christianity  to  leaven.  It 
had  an  affinity  for  the  human  mind,  by  which  it  passed 
from  individual  to  individual,  as  the  leavening  process 
passes  from  particle  to  particle ;  and  no  human  power 
could  arrest  its  progress.  Since  the  world  stood,  no 
change  like  it  has  taken  place,  nor  has  any  power 
existed  that  could  have  produced  such  a  change. 

2.  In  estimating  the  obstacles  to  this  progress,  we 
are  to  observe  that  the  enterprise  of  propagating  a 
religion,  as  such,  and  especially  an  exclusive  religion, 
w^as  then  entirely  new.  The  Jewish  system  was  not 
adapted  to  universal  diffusion,  and  the  zeal  of  the  Jews 
was  directed  rather  to  keep  other  nations  at  a  distance 
than  to  bring  them  to  an  equal  participation  of  their 
privileges.  The  Gentiles  knew  nothing  of  an  exclu- 
sive religion,  nor  of  a  benevolent  religion  —  exclusive 
because  it  was  benevolent.  Heathenism,  being  without 
a  creed  and  without  principle,  "had  nothing  to  con- 
tend for  but  the  privilege  of  assuming  any  form,  wor- 
shipping any  idol,  practising  any  ritual,  and  pursuing 
any  absurdity,  which  the  craft  of  the  priesthood,  or  the 
superstitions  and  vices  of  the  people,  might  select.  It 
never  was  imagined,  by  any  description  of  pagans,  that 


LECTURE   XII.  365 

all  Other  forms  of  religion  were  not  as  good  for  the 
people  observing  them,  as  theirs  was  for  them  ;  or  that 
any  dictate  of  kindness,  or  common  sense,  should  lead 
them  to  attempt  the  subversion  of  the  gods  of  their 
neighbors,  for  the  sake  of  establishing  their  own  in 
their  stead."  This  is  the  species  of  charity  and  the 
ground  of  harmony  —  arising  from  a  want  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  true  religion,  and  of  its  unspeakable  value 
—  which  is  so  highly  praised  by  Gibbon  and  Voltaire. 
But,  in  such  a  state  of  things,  "  nothing  could  have 
been  more  perfectly  new,  surprising,  or  offensive  to  the 
whole  Gentile  world,  than  the  duty  laid  upon  the  first 
advocates  of  Christianity  to  go  into  all  nations  assert- 
ing the  exclusive  claims  of  the  gospel,  denouncing 
the  validity  of  all  other  religions,  and  laboring  to  bring 
every  creature  to  the  single  faith  of  Christ."  And 
then,  how  different  the  religion  of  the  gospel,  not 
only  in  its  relation  to  other  religions,  but  in  itself,  from 
any  of  which  they  had  any  conception !  "  Religion, 
among  the  Gentiles,  was  a  creature  of  the  state.  It 
consisted  exclusively  in  the  outward  circumstances  of 
temples,  and  altars,  and  images,  and  priests,  and  sacri- 
fices, and  festivals,  and  lustrations.  It  multiplied  its 
objects  of  worship  at  the  pleasure  of  the  civil  authori- 
ties;  taught  no  system  of  doctrine;  recognized  no 
system  of  morality ;  required  nothing  of  the  heart ; 
committed  the  life  of  man  to  unlimited  discretion  ;  and 
allowed  any  one  to  stand  perfectly  well  with  the  gods, 
(on  the  trifling  condition  of  a  little  show  of  respect  for 
their  worship,)  to  whatever  extent  he  indulged  in  the 
worst  passions  and  lowest  propensities  of  his  nature. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  foreign  to  every  habit 
of  thought,  in  the  mind  of  a  native  of  Greece  or  Rome, 


366 


LECTURE   XII- 


than  the  Scripture  doctrines  of  the  nature  and  guilt  of 
sin,  of  repentance,  conversion,  faith,  love,  meekness, 
and  purity  of  heart." 

In  the  nature  of  the  case,  such   a  religion  "  must 
have    arrayed    against   it  all    the   influence    of   every 
priesthood   both  among  Jews  and  heathens."      With 
the  power  of  the  priests   among  the  Jews,  and  their 
bitterness  against  Christianity,  we  are  sufficiently  ac- 
quainted, but  are  less  familiar  with  the  superstitious 
dread  in  which  they  were  held,  and  with  their  power 
among  other  nations.     "  The  religion  of  the  nations," 
says  Gibbon,  "  was  not  merely  a  speculative  doctrine 
professed    in  the   schools   or    taught   in    the    temples. 
The  innumerable  duties  and  rites  of  polytheism  were 
closely   interwoven    with  every  circumstance  of  busi- 
ness or  of  pleasure,  of  public  or  of  private  life ;  and  it 
seemed  impossible  to  escape  the  observance  of  them 
w^ithout  at  the  same  time  renouncing  the  commerce  of 
mankind.     The  important  transactions  of  peace  and 
war  were  prepared  and  concluded  by  solemn  sacrifices, 
in  which  the  magistrate,  the  senator,  and  the  soldier, 
were  obliged  to  participate."     Speaking  of  the  priests, 
he  says,  "  Their  robes  of  purple,  chariots  of  state,  and 
sumptuous  entertainments,  attracted  the  admiration  of 
the  people ;  and  they  received  from    the   consecrated 
lands  and  public  revenue  an  ample  stipend,  which  lib- 
erally supported  the  splendor  of  the  priesthood,  and  all 
the  expenses  of  the  religion  of  the  state."     It  is  stated, 
as  an  evidence  of  the  extent  and  power  of  the  organiza- 
tions with  which  this  priesthood  was  connected,  that, 
sixty  years  after  Christianity  had  been  the  established 
religion  of  the  Roman  empire,  there  were  four  hundred 
and    twenty-four   temples   and   chapels,  at  Rome,  in 


LECTURE    XII.  367 

which  their  worsliip  was  celebrated.  "  In  connection 
with  all  this  organization  and  deep-rooted  power  of 
heathenism,  consider  its  various  tribes  of  subordinate 
agents  and  interested  allies,  —  the  diviners,  augurs,  and 
managers  of  oracles,  with  all  the  attendants  and  assist- 
ants belonging  to  the  temples  of  a  countless  variety  of 
idols ;  the  trades  whose  craft  was  sustained  by  the 
patronage  of  image-worship,  such  as  statuary,  shrine- 
mongers,  sacrifice-sellers,  incense-merchants ;  consider 
the  great  festivals  and  games  by  which  heathenism 
flattered  the  dispositions  of  the  people,  and  enlisted  all 
classes  and  all  countries  in  its  support, — and  say, 
what  must  have  been  the  immense  force  in  which  the 
several  priesthoods  of  all  heathen  nations  were  capable 
of  uniting  among  themselves,  and  with  the  priests  of 
the  Jews,  in  the  common  cause  of  crushing  a  religion 
by  whose  doctrines  none  of  them  could  be  tolerated. 
That  with  all  their  various  contingents  they  did  unite, 
consenting  in  this  one  object,  if  in  little  else,  of  smoth- 
ering Christianity  in  her  cradle,  or  of  drowning  her  in 
the  blood  of  her  disciples,  all  history  assures  us." 

And  with  the  influence  of  the  priests  was  associated 
the  power  of  the  magistrate.  The  true  principle  of 
toleration  was  entirely  unknown  among  heathen  na- 
tions, and  is  to  this  day.  Toleration,  in  its  true  sense, 
—  as  distinguished  from  indiflerence  on  the  one  hand, 
and  from  zeal,  manifesting  itself  through  a  wrong  spirit 
and  in  a  wrong  direction,  on  the  other,  —  is  not  natural 
to  man.  It  is  a  Christian  virtue.  The  heathen  were 
ready  to  tolerate  any  thing  which  did  not  interfere 
with  the  established  worship  of  the  state ;  but  the 
moment  a  religion  arose  which  forbade  its  followers 
to  unite  in  that,  the  fires  of  a  relentless  persecution 


368  LECTURE    XII. 

were  every  where  kindled,   and  the  whole  force   of 
the  civil  arm  was  brought  to  bear  upon  it. 

With  this  position  of  the  priesthood  and  of  the 
magistracy  towards  Christianity,  we  should  naturally 
expect  the  tumults  and  outbreaks  of  popular  passion 
which  we  find  were  generally  excited  when  it  was 
first  preached.  Vicious,  unprincipled,  accustomed,  in 
many  instances,  to  gladiatorial  shows  and  sights  of 
blood,  —  it  was  from  the  populace  that  the  more  im- 
mediate danger  to  the  preachers  of  Christianity  often 
arose. 

Nor  was  Christianity  less  opposed  to  the  philoso- 
phers, or  less  opposed  by  them,  than  by  other  classes 
of  the  community.  "  Their  sects,  though  numerous, 
and  exceedingly  various,  were  all  agreed  in  proudly 
trusting  in  themselves  that  they  were  wise,  and  de- 
spising others.  Their  published  opinions,  their  pri- 
vate speculations,  their  personal  immorality,  made 
them  irreconcilable  adversaries  of  Christianity.  It 
went  up  into  their  schools,  and  called  their  wisdom 
foolishness,  and  rebuked  their  self-conceit.  'What 
will  this  babbler  say  ?  He  seemeth  to  be  a  setter 
forth  of  strange  gods,'  were  the  taunting  words  of 
certain  of  the  Epicureans  and  Stoics  when  they  en- 
countered St.  Paul.  Mockery  was  the  natural  expres- 
sion of  their  minds  when  they  heard  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead.  The  apostles,  therefore,  in  attempting 
to  propagate  the  gospel  among  the  Gentiles,  were 
opposed  by  all  the  wit,  and  learning,  and  sophistry, — 
all  the  pride,  and  jealousy,  and  malice,  —  of  every  sect 
of  philosophers." 

These  remarks  will  enable  us  to  judge  whether  the 
state  of  the  world  was  at  that  time  favorable  to  the 


LECTURE   XII.  3G9 

propagation  of  Christianity ;  for  on  this  point  very 
different  views  seem  to  be  entertained  by  different 
persons.  Of  those  Avho  think  the  state  of  tlie  world 
was  thus  favorable,  there  are  two  classes.  Some  have 
thought  they  could  see  the  hand  of  Divine  Providence 
in  the  arrangements  and  preparations  which  they  think 
were  made  for  its  introduction  ;  while  others  evidently 
speak  of  it  in  this  way  for  the  purpose  of  diminishing 
the  force  of  the  argument  usually  drawn  from  the 
propagation  of  Christianity.  To  the  most,  however,  it 
has  seemed  that  the  state  of  the  world  never  opposed 
greater  obstacles  to  the  propagation  of  such  a  religion. 
On  the  one  hand,  it  is  said  that  the  world  was  at  peace, 
and  was  united  under  one  government,  and  that  it  was 
easy  to  pass  from  place  to  place,  and  to  affect  a  large 
mass,  and  that  the  force  of  the  old  superstitions  was 
expended,  and  that  the  minds  of  the  people  were  pre- 
pared for  a  new  religion.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
said  that  if  it  was  an  age  of  peace,  that  only  gave 
opportunity  to  examine  the  claims  of  the  new  re- 
ligion with  the  more  care ;  that  it  was  an  enlightened 
age,  an  age  of  literature  and  refinement,  of  vice,  of  a 
general  prevalence  of  the  Epicurean  philosophy,  and  of 
skepticism ;  and  that  it  was  the  very  last  period  in  the 
history  of  the  world  in  which  any  thing  false  or  feeble 
would  have  been  likely  to  succeed.  This  is  my  im- 
pression. For  the  extension  of  such  a  religion  as 
Christianity,  with  its  indubitable  evidence  and  mighty 
motives,  there  were  certainly  many  things  most  favor- 
able ;  but  if  Christianity  had  not  been  what  it  claimed 
to  be,  —  certainly  the  most  enlightened,  and  civilized, 
and  skeptical  age  which  the  world  had  ever  seen  would 
have  been  the  most  unfavorable  period  for  its  propaga- 


•47 


370  LECTURE    XII. 

tion.  What  would,  the  infidel  have  said  if,  instead  of 
springing  up  in  this  age  of  light  and  refinement,  Chris- 
tianity had  first  been  spread  among  an  ignorant  and 
barbarous  people  ?  But,  however  this  point  may  be 
decided,  if  any  man  thinks  it  could  be  an  easy  thing, 
under  any  circumstances,  to  cause  such  a  religion  as 
Christianity  to  take  the  place  of  any  thing,  or  of  noth- 
ing, in  the  mind  of  any  human  being,  so  that  that 
person,  too,  should  become  a  centre  of  influence  to 
extend  the  religion  to  others,  he  has  only  to  try  the 
experiment  any  where,  and  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances.  Let  him  take  the  first  unconverted 
man  he  meets  in  the  streets,  and  try  to  make  him 
an  active  Christian,  —  such  as  tens  of  thousands  and 
millions  must  have  become  on  the  first  preaching  of 
Christianity,  —  and  he  will  have  some  conception  of  the 
difficulty  of  working  a  change  in  the  wills,  and  habits 
of  thought,  and  object  of  pursuit,  and  whole  mode  of 
life,  of  people  of  different  nations,  of  the  most  various 
belief,  of  every  age  and  condition.  But  this  did  the 
apostles. 

3.  And  now,  by  what  instrumentality  did  they  ac- 
complish this?  On  this  I  need  not  dwell.  Eleven 
men,  —  for  it  was  not  till  after  the  death  of  Christ  that 
the  great  enterprise  of  converting  the  world  was  com- 
menced, —  eleven  men,  without  learning,  or  wealth,  or 
rank,  or  power,  from  the  humble  walks  of  life,  among  a 
despised  people,  never  resorting  to  force,  and  having  no 
connection  with  politics,  by  a  simple  statement  of  facts, 
by  preaching  Christ  and  him  crucified,  subverted  the 
divinely-appointed  institutions  of  Judaism,  and  over- 
turned the  superstitions  of  ages  throughout  the  known 
world.     The  history  of  the  race  has  nothing  to  show 


LECTURE    XII.  371 

that  can  for  a  moment  comi)arc  with  this.  If  Moham- 
medanism may  be  compared  with  Cln'istianitj  in 
respect  to  the  rapidity  of  its  extension,  it  is  yet  in 
entire  contrast  with  it  in  all  the  circumstances  in  which 
it  arose,  and  in  all  the  means  adopted  for  its  diffusion. 
Wiiilc  it  confined  itself  to  persuasion,  it  accomplished 
nothing  worthy  of  notice  ;  and  it  never  has  been  ex- 
tended at  all  in  the  only  method  by  which  it  can  be 
clearly  shown  that  a  true  religion  must  be  extended. 
Its  sway  is  perpetuated  only  as  it  holds  its  sabre  over 
the  neck  of  its  followers,  and  threatens  them  with  in- 
stant death  if  they  turn  to  any  other  religion.  Wheth- 
er, then,  we  examine  the  nature  of  the  case,  or  look 
at  it  in  the  light  of  history,  we  must  feel  that  the 
propagation  of  such  a  religion,  in  opposition  to  such 
obstacles,  with  such  rapidity,  and  by  such  means,  is  a 
moral  miracle,  and  can  be  reasonably  imputed  only  to 
the  power  of  truth  and  of  God.  How  will  the  infidel 
account  for  it  ?  Does  he  believe  that  these  men  were 
weak  and  deluded  ?  Then  he  believes  that  weak  and 
deluded  men  could  accomplish  a  work  requiring  greater 
moral  power  than  any  other.  Does  he  believe  they 
were  deceivers  ?  Then  he  believes  that  these  men 
labored,  and  suffered,  and  died,  to  cause  others  to 
believe  that  which  they  did  not  believe  themselves. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  effects  and  tendencies  of 
Christianity.  If  it  can  be  shown  that  this  religion, 
and  this  alone,  has  been  the  cause  of  the  greatest 
blessings  that  mankind  have  enjoyed  ;  and  that,  if  fully 
received,  it  would  carry  the  individual  and  society  to 
the  highest  possible  state  of  perfection  in  this  life,  and 
fit  man  for  the  highest  conceivable  state  of  hap[)iness 


372  LECTURE     XII. 

hereafter,  —  it  must  bo  from  God.  And  this  can  be 
shown.  Nor,  in  speaking  of  this  subject,  would  1 
conceal  any  evil  that  has  taken  place  in  connection 
with  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  or  any  iniquity 
that  has  been  perpetrated  by  those  who  have  borne  its 
name.  I  only  ask  that  men  will  distinguish,  as  every 
candid  man  must,  between  tendencies  and  actual  re- 
sults when  those  tendencies  are  perversely  and  wick- 
edly thwarted ;  and  also  between  names  and  things. 

The  persecution  by  Nero  —  to  illustrate  the  first 
distinction  —  was  an  evil,  and  without  Christianity  it 
would  not  have  existed.  But  who  or  what  was  the 
cause  of  it  ?  Was  it  the  inoffensive  Christians,  simply 
asserting  their  own  inherent  right  to  love  the  Saviour, 
and  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
own  conscience  ?  or  was  it  the  wickedness  of  Nero 
and  of  his  creatures?  When,  at  the  command  of 
Christ,  the  devil  went  out  of  one  who  had  been  pos- 
sessed, and  tore  him,  and  left  him  as  dead,  was  it 
Christ  who  was  the  cause  of  this  suffering?  And 
thus  has  it  always  been  with  Christianity,  whether  its 
object  has  been  to  enjoy  its  own  rights  or  to  benefit 
others.  If  evil  has  arisen,  it  has  been  because  men 
have  persecuted  Christians,  and  have  sought  to  take 
from  them  the  inalienable  rights  which  God  has  given  ; 
or  because,  when  Christianity  has  attacked  great  and 
deeply-seated  evils,  as  idolatry  and  slavery,  men  have 
clung  to  these  with  a  wicked  pertinacity,  and  the  devil 
has  not  been  cast  out  of  society  without  rending  it. 

In  regard  to  the  second  distinction,  that  between 
names  and  things,  there  is  a  very  general  delusion 
which  steals  insensibly  over  the  mind  from  the  appli- 
cation of  the  term  '  Christian'  to  those  who  are  in  no 


LECTURE    XII.  373 

sense  governed  by  Christian  principle.  If  men  would 
test  the  effect  of  a  medicine,  they  must  take  that,  and 
not  something  else  which  they  may  choose  to  call  by 
that  name.  If  they  take  arsenic,  and  call  it  flour,  the 
mere  fact  that  they  call  it  by  a  wrong  name  will  not 
prevent  its  poisonous  effects.  And  so  ambition,  and 
pride,  and  vanity,  and  selfishness,  in  its  various  forms, 
will  produce  their  own  appropriate  effects,  in  whatever 
form  of  society  they  may  exist,  and  by  whatever  name 
they  may  be  called.  Keeping  these  two  distinctions 
in  view,  it  may  easily  be  shown  that  Christianity  has 
really  been  the  cause  of  no  evil,  Avhile  it  has  conferred 
infinite  blessings  upon  mankind,  and  only  waits  to  be 
fully  received,  to  introduce  a  state  as  perfect  as  can  be 
conceived  of  in  connection  with  the  present  physical 
constitution  of  things. 

Certainly,  no  revolution  that  has  ever  taken  place  in 
society  can  be  compared  to  that  which  has  been  pro- 
duced by  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ.  Those  words 
met  a  want,  a  deep  want,  in  the  spirit  of  man.  They 
placed  in  the  clear  sunlight  of  truth  a  solution  of  those 
profound  problems  and  enigmas,  in  relation  to  man 
and  his  destiny,  about  which  the  philosophers  only  dis- 
puted. They  more  than  confirmed  every  timid  hope 
which  the  wisest  and  best  of  men  had  cherished.  He 
pointed  men  to  a  Father  in  heaven,  to  the  mansions 
of  rest  which  he  would  prepare.  He  "  brought  life 
and  immortality  to  light."  He  erected  a  perfect 
standard  of  morals,  and  insisted  upon  love  to  God  and 
love  to  man,  and  he  stood  before  men  in  the  glorious 
light  of  his  own  perfect  example.  He  spoke,  and  that 
spiritual  slumber  of  the  race  which  seemed  the  image 
of  death  was  broken  up,  and  a  movement  commenced 


374  LECTURE    XII. 

in  the  moral  elements  that  has  not  ceased  from  that 
day  to  this,  and  that  never  will  cease.  Those  who 
were  mourning  heard  his  voice,  and  were  comforted ; 
those  who  were  weary  and  heavy-laden  heard  it,  and 
found  rest  unto  their  souls.  It  stirred  up  feelings, 
both  of  opposition  and  of  love,  deeper  than  those  of 
natural  atfection.  It  therefore  set  the  son  against  the 
father,  and  the  father  against  the  son,  and  caused  a 
man's  foes  to  be  they  of  his  own  household.  Having 
no  affinity  with  any  of  the  prevalent  forms  of  idolatry 
and  corruption,  and  making  no  compromise  with  them, 
it  turned  the  world  upside  down  wherever  it  came. 
Before  it,  the  heathen  oracles  were  dumb,  and  the 
fires  upon  their  altars  went  out.  It  acted  as  an  in- 
visible and  secret  force  on  society,  communing  with 
men  upon  their  beds  by  night,  dissuading  them  from 
wickedness,  seconding  the  voice  of  conscience,  giv- 
ing both  distinctness  and  energy  to  its  tones,  now 
whispering,  and  now^  speaking  with  a  voice  that  made 
the  stoutest  tremble,  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and 
of  a  judgment  to  come.  It  opened  heaven,  and  spoke 
to  the  ear  of  hope.  It  uncovered  that  world,  "where 
their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched." 
It  was  stern  in  its  rebukes  of  every  sin,  and  encour- 
aged every  thing  that  was  "  pure,  and  lovely,  and  of 
good  report."  Being  addressed  to  man  universally, 
without  regard  to  his  condition  or  his  nation,  it  paid 
little  regard  to  differences  of  language,  or  habits,  or  the 
boundaries  of  states.  Persecution  was  aroused ;  it 
kindled  its  fires,  it  brought  forth  its  wild  beasts.  Blood 
flowed  like  water,  but  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was 
the  seed  of  the  church.  No  external  force  could  avail 
against  a  power  like  this.     The  word  was  spoken,  and 


LECTURE    XII.  375 

it  could  not  be  recalled.  The  hand  of  God  had  made 
a  new  adjustment  in  the  movement  of  the  moral 
world,  and  the  hand  of  man  could  not  ])ut  it  back. 
No  other  revolution  has  ever  been  so  extensive  or  so 
radical.  Moving  on  directly  to  the  accom})lishm(uit  of 
its  own  more  immediate  and  higher  objects,  the  voice 
of  Christ  has  incidentally  caused,  not  only  moral,  but 
social  and  civil  revolutions.  It  has  banished  idolatry 
and  polytheism,  with  tlieir  inseparable  degradations, 
and  pollutions,  and  cruelty.  Human  sacrifices,  offered 
by  our  own  ancestors,  by  the  Greeks,  and  Romans,  and 
Carthaginians,  and  the  ancient  worshippers  of  Baal 
and  Moloch,  —  offered  now  in  the  islands  of  the  Pa- 
cific, and  in  India,  and  in  Africa,  —  cease  at  once  where 
Christianitv  comes.  It  was  before  its  li2;ht  had  visited 
this  continent,  that  seventy  thousand  human  beings 
were  sacrificed  at  the  consecration  of  a  single  temj)le.* 
It  has  banished  the  ancient  games,  in  which  men  slew 
each  other,  and  were  exposed  to  the  fury  of  wild  beasts, 
for  the  amusement  of  the  ])eople.  It  has  banished 
slavery,  once  so  prevalent,  from  Europe,  and  from  a 
large  portion  of  this  continent.  To  a  great  extent  it 
has  put  an  end  to  the  exposure  of  infants.  It  has 
elevated  woman,  and  given  her  the  place  in  society 
which  God  designed  she  should  occupy.  By  putting 
an  end  to  polygamy,  and  to  frequent  divorces,  it  has 
provided  for  the  cultivation  of  the  domestic  and  nat- 
ural affections,  for  the  proper  training  of  children,  and 
for  all  the  unspeakable  blessings  connected  with  the 
purity  and  peace,  and  mutual  love  and  confidence,  of 
Christian  families.      It    has    so    elevated    the    general 

*  Prescott's  Mexica 


376  LECTURE    XII. 

Standard  of   morality,  that  unnatural  crimes,   and   the 
grosser  forms  of  sensuality,  which  once  appeared  openly, 
and  were  practised  and  defended  by  philosophers,  now 
shrink  away  and  hide  themselves  in  the  darkness.     It 
has   diminished   the  frequency  of  wars,  and  mitigated 
their  horrors.     It  has  introduced  the  principle  of  gen- 
eral benevolence,  unknown  before,  and  led  men  to  be 
willing  to  labor,  and  suffer,  and  give  their  property,  for 
the  good  of  those   whom   they  have  never  seen,  and 
never   expect  to   see  in  this  life.     It  has  led  men  to 
labor  for   the  w^elfare   of  the   soul,  and,  in  connection 
with  such  labors,  to  provide  for  the  sufferings  and  for  the 
physical  wants  of  the  poor  ;  and  it  is  found  that  these 
two  go  hand  in  hand,  and  cannot  be  separated.     If 
there  be  here  and  there  a  mistaken  zealot,  or  a  phari- 
saical  professor  of  Christianity,  who  would  seem  to  be 
zealous  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  men,  and  yet  would 
say  to  the  hungry  and  the  naked,  Be  ye  clothed  and  be 
ye  fed,  —  at  the  same  time  giving  them  nothing  to  sup- 
ply their  wants,  —  it  is  also  found,  not  only  that  the 
truest  regard  for  the  present  well-being  of  man  must 
manifest  itself  through  a  regard  for  his  spiritual  wants, 
but  also  that,  when  a  regard  to  those  wants  ceases,  the 
lower  charity  which  cares  for  the  body  w  ill  decay  with 
it.     When  the  tree  begins  to  die  at  the  top,  where  the 
juices   are  elaborated  that  nourish  it,  it  will  die  down. 
Christianity  alone   has   built  hospitals  for  the  sick  and 
for  the  insane,  and  almshouses,  and  houses  of  refuge, 
and  provided  for  the  instruction  and  reformation  of  those 
confined  as  criminals.     Was  there  ever  any  thing  in  a 
heathen  land  like  what  is  to  be  seen  at  South  Boston  ? 
What  book  is  it  that  the  blind  are  taught  to  read  ?     If 
there  had  been  no  Bible,  and  no  such  estimate  of  the 


LECTURE    XII.  377 

worth  of  man  as  that  contains,  can  any  one  bcHcve 
that  the  great  work  of  printing  for  the  blind  would 
have  been  performed  ?  or  that  the  deaf  and  dumb 
would  have  been  so  provided  for  ?  When  I  recently 
saw  those  blind  children  so  instructed,  and  heard  them 
sing,  —  when  I  saw  thoughts  and  feelings  chasing  each 
other  like  light  and  shade  over  the  speaking  counte- 
nance of  Laura  Bridgman,  deaf,  and  dumb,  and  blind,  — 
I  could  not  but  feel,  thou^i  the  ordinary  fountains  of 
knowledge  were  still  sealed  up,  yet  that  in  a  high 
sense  it  might  be  said  to  them  and  to  her,  as  Peter  said 
to  Eneas,  "  Jesus  Christ  maketh  thee  whole." 

And  what  Christianity  has  hitherto  done,  it  is  now 
doing.  It  is  to  some  extent  imbodying  its  force  in 
missionary  operations,  and  it  has  lost  none  of  its 
original  power.  Men  are  found  ready  to  take  their 
lives  in  their  hands ;  to  forsake  their  country,  and 
friends,  and  children  ;  and  go  among  the  heathen,  for 
the  love  of  Jesus ;  and  it  is  found  that  the  same  sim- 
ple preaching  of  the  cross,  that  was  mighty  of  old  to 
the  pulling  down  of  strongholds,  is  still  accompanied 
with  a  divine  powder ;  and  nations  of  idolaters,  savages, 
cannibals,  infanticides,  are  seen  coming  up  out  of  the 
night  of  paganism,  and  taking  their  place  among  civ- 
ilized, and  literary,  and  Christian  nations. 

These,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  public,  visible,  and 
undeniable  effects  of  Christianity,  uniformly  produced 
in  any  community  in  proportion  as  a  pure  Christianity 
prevails.  To  me,  however,  these  are  rather  indications 
of  a  great  w^ork,  than  the  work  itself.  They  are  but  as 
the  coral  reef  that  appears  above  the  surface,  w^hich  is 
as  nothing  to  the  deep  and  concealed  labors  of  the  little 
ocean    architect.     Like    that   architect  in  the   ocean, 

48 


378  LECTURE    XII. 

Christianity  begins  at  the  bottom  of  society,  and  works 
up.  It  never  acts  successfully  upon  the  faculties  of 
man  as  an  external  force.  It  must  act  through  these 
faculties,  and  hence  it  can  change  public  institutions 
and  forms  of  government,  and  produce  those  great 
public  effects  which  are  noticed,  only  as  it  changes  in- 
dividuals. How  immense  the  work,  how  mighty  the 
changes  which  must  have  been  wrought  in  individuals, 
before  these  imbodied  and^public  effects  could  appear ! 
Such  institutions  and  effects  are  the  results  of  a  life,  a 
vitality,  a  power ;  and  they  stand  as  the  indices  and 
monuments  of  its  action.  When  I  see  the  earth  cov- 
ered with  vegetation,  —  when  I  see  a  vast  forest  stand- 
ing and  clothed  with  the  green  robes  of  summer,  —  I 
know  there  must  have  been  an  amazing  amount  of 
elemental  action.  I  think  how  the  atmosphere,  and  the 
light,  and  the  moisture,  and  the  earth,  must  have  con- 
spired together,  and  how  the  principle  of  vegetable  life 
must  have  lifted  up  the  mass,  particle  by  particle,  till 
at  length  it  had  formed  the  sturdy  trunk,  and  set  his 
"coronal"  of  green  leaves  upon  the  monarch  of  the 
forest.  And  so,  when  I  see  these  results,  these  institu- 
tions, standing  in  their  freshness  and  greenness,  —  when 
I  see  the  moral  desert  budding  and  blossoming,  —  I  know 
there  must  have  been  the  play  of  moral  life,  the  clear 
shining  of  truth,  the  movement  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  the  deep,  though,  it  may  be,  silent  strugglings  of 
the  spirit  of  man.  Then  I  know  that  conscience  must 
have  been  aroused,  and  that  there  has  been  the  anxious 
questioning,  and  the  earnest  struggle,  and  that  the  tear 
of  penitence  has  flowed,  and  that  the  secret  prayer  has 
gone  up,  and  that  songs  of  hope  and  salvation  have 
taken  the  place  of  a  sense  of  guilt  and  of  anxious  fear. 


LECTURE    XII.  379 

Then  I  know  that  tliere  have  been  holy  lives  and 
hapjjy  deaths.  Such  changes  in  individuals,  and  such 
results,  who  that  lives  in  these  days  has  not  seen  ? 
Such  changes  and  results  it  is  the  great  object  of 
Christianity  to  produce.  When  it  shall  produce  these 
changes  fully  upon  all,  fitting  them  for  heaven,  then, 
and  not  till  then,  will  its  tendencies  be  fully  carried 
out.  Then  will  every  thing  wrong  in  the  constitu- 
tion and  relations  of  society  be  displaced,  and  with- 
out violence,  as  the  organization  of  the  chrysalis  is 
displaced  by  that  of  the  bright  and  winged  being  that 
is  enfolded  within  it,  and  society  shall  come  forth  in 
its  perfect  state.  Then  shall  the  will  of  God  be  done  ; 
and  this  earth,  so  long  tempest-tossed,  like  a  clear  and 
peaceful  lake,  shall  reflect  the  image  of  heaven. 

Thus,  as  well  as  I  was  able  under  the  severe  pres- 
sure of  other  duties,  with  a  sincere  desire  to  promote 
the  views  of  the  munificent  founder  of  these  courses 
of  lectures,  and  I  trust  with  some  sense  of  my  respon- 
sibility to  God,  have  I  presented,  separately,  such  ar- 
guments as  the  time  would  permit  for  the  truth  of 
Christianity  ;  but,  if  we  would  see  the  proof  in  all  its 
strength,  we  must  look  at  these  arguments  in  their 
united  force.  We  know  that  an  argument  may  be 
framed  from  separate  circumstances,  each  of  which 
may  have  little  weight,  while  the  force  of  the  whole 
combined  shall  amount  to  a  moral  demonstration.  It 
is  in  this  way  that  some  of  the  separate  arguments  for 
Christianity  are  constructed  ;  but  it  is  not  thus  that  we 
present  these  separate  arguments  as  conspiring  to- 
gether. We  claim  that  there  are  for  Christianity 
many    separate    infallible    proofs,    each    of   which     is 


380  LECTURE    XII. 

sufficient  of  itself;  but  still,  the  general  impression 
upon  the  mind  may  be  increased  when  they  are 
seen  together.  We  claim  that  the  proofs  for  the 
religion  of  Christ  are  like  those  for  his  resurrection 
given  through  the  different  senses  of  the  disciples. 
Some  believed  when  they  merely  saw  him  ;  some  be- 
lieved when  they  saw  him  and  heard  his  voice.  Each 
of  these  was  a  separate  and  adequate  proof;  but 
Thomas  thought  it  necessary,  not  only  that  he  should 
see  and  hear  him,  but  that  he  should  put  his  finger  into 
the  prints  of  the  nails,  and  thrust  his  hand  into  his 
side.  Christ  did  not  ask  his  disciples  to  believe  with- 
out proof  then ;  he  does  not  now.  He  has  provided 
that  which  must  satisfy,  if  he  be  only  fair-minded, 
even  an  unbelieving  Thomas ;  and  this  proof,  as  it 
comes  in  from  very  various  and  independent  sources, 
is  adapted  to  every  mind. 

We  have  seen  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  nature 
of  the  evidence,  or  in  any  conflict  of  the  evidence  of 
testimony  and  of  experience,  to  prevent  our  attaining 
certainty  on  this  subject.  We  have  seen  that  there 
was  no  previous  improbability  that  a  Father  should 
speak  to  his  own  child,  benighted  and  lost ;  or  that  he 
should  give  him  the  evidence  of  miracles  that  he  did 
thus  speak.  We  have  heard  the  voice  of  Nature  recog- 
nizing, by  her  analogies,  the  affinities  of  the  Christian 
religion  with  her  mysterious  and  complex  arrange- 
ments and  mighty  movements.  We  have  seen  the 
perfect  coincidence  of  the  teachings  of  natural  religion 
with  those  of  Christianity  ;  and,  when  Christianity  has 
transcended  the  limits  of  natural  religion,  we  have 
seen  that  its  teachings  were  still  in  keeping  with  hers, 
as  the  revelations  of  the  telescope  are  with  those  of 


LECTURE    XII.  381 

the  naked  eye.  We  have  seen  that  this  religion  is 
adapted  to  the  conscience,  not  only  as  it  meets  all  its 
wants  as  a  perceiving  power,  by  establishing  a  perfect 
standard,  but  also  as  it  quickens  and  improves  the 
conscience  itself,  and  gives  it  both  life  and  peace. 
We  have  seen  that,  though  morality  was  not  the  great 
object  of  the  gospel,  yet  that  there  must  spring  up,  in 
connection  with  a  full  reception  of  its  doctrines,  a 
morality  that  is  perfect.  We  have  seen  that  it  is 
adapted  to  the  intellect,  to  the  affections,  to  the 
imagination,  and  to  the  will ;  that,  as  a  restraining 
power,  it  places  its  checks  precisely  where  it  ought, 
and  in  the  wisest  way ;  so  that,  as  a  system  of  excite- 
ment, of  guidance,  and  of  restraint,  it  is  all  that  is 
needed  to  carry  human  nature  to  its  highest  point  of 
perfection.  We  have  seen  that  it  gives  to  him  who 
practises  it  a  witness  within  himself;  and  that  it  is 
fitted,  and  tends,  to  become  universal,  while  it  may  be 
traced  back  to  the  beginning  of  time.  Such  a  religion 
as  this,  whether  we  consider  its  scheme,  or  the  cir- 
cumstances of  its  origin,  or  its  records  in  their  sim- 
plicity and  harmony,  we  have  seen  could  no  more  have 
been  originated  by  man  than  could  the  ocean.  We 
have  seen  the  lowly  circumstances,  the  unprecedented 
claims,  and  the  wonderful  character,  of  our  Saviour. 
Around  this  religion,  thus  substantiated,  we  have  seen 
every  possible  form  of  external  evidence  array  itself. 
W^e  have  seen  the  authenticity  of  its  books  substan- 
tiated, by  every  species  of  proof,  both  external  and 
internal.  We  have  seen  that  its  facts  and  miracles 
were  such  that  men  could  not  be  mistaken  respecting 
them,  and  that  the  reality  of  those  facts  was  not  only 
attested,  on  the  part  of  the  original  witnesses,  by  mar- 


382  LECTURE    Xll. 

tyrdom,  but  that  it  is  implied  in  institutions  and 
observances  now  existing,  and  is  the  only  rational 
account  that  can  be  given  of  the  great  fact  of  Chris- 
tendom. We  have  seen,  also,  that  the  accounts  given 
by  our  books  are  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  numer- 
ous Jewish  and  heathen  writers.  And  not  only  have  we 
seen  that  miracles  were  wrought,  and  that  the  great 
facts  of  Christianity  are  fully  attested  by  direct  evi- 
dence, but  we  have  heard  the  voice  of  prophecy  her- 
alding the  approach  of  Him  who  came  travelling  in 
the  greatness  of  his  strength,  and  saying,  "  Prepare 
ye  the  way  of  the  Lord."  We  have  seen  this  religion, 
cast  like  leaven  into  society,  go  on  working  by  its 
mysterious  but  irresistible  agency,  transforming  the 
corrupt  mass.  We  have  seen  it  taking  the  lead  among 
those  influences  by  which  the  destiny  of  the  world  is 
controlled  ;  so  that  the  stone  which  was  cut  out  with- 
out hands  has  become  a  great  mountain ;  and,  finally, 
we  have  seen  its  blessed  effects,  and  its  tendency  to 
fill  the  earth  with  righteousness  and  peace. 

These  things  we  have  seen  separately;  and  now, 
when  we  look  at  them  as  they  stand  up  together 
and  give  in  their  united  testimony,  do  they  not  pro- 
duce, ought  they  not  to  produce,  a  full,  a  perfect,  and 
abiding  conviction  of  the  truth  of  this  religion?  If 
such  evidence  as  this  can  mislead  us,  have  we  not 
reason  to  believe  that  the  universe  itself  is  constituted 
on  the  principle  of  deception  ? 

May  I  not  hope,  then,  that,  as  we  have  thus  gone 
together  about  our  Zion,  some  of  my  hearers,  at  least, 
have  felt  that  her  towers  are  impregnable,  —  that 

''  Walls  of  strength  embrace  her  round "  ? 


LECTURE    XII.  383 

May  I  not  hope  that  they  have  been  led  so  to  see 
the  certainty  of  those  things  in  which  they  have  been 
instructed,  as  to  gain  strength  in  their  own  moral 
conflicts,  and  to  tread  with  a  firmer  step,  and  gird 
themselves  for  higher  exertion,  in  spreading  this 
blessed  religion  over  the  world  ?  If  so,  I  have  my 
reward. 


\ 


^;3S:v.-^^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


A  5  Se*5C 


LD  21-100jn-9,'48(B399sl6)476 


v^ 


"vr^^l 


t1 


